A Pokemon World Without Battling
by kevin.huynh.31542
Summary: Have you ever wondered about the ethics of Pokemon battling, ever since an organization called PETA released two parody games, based on the franchise? In defense of Pokemon, I will eventually reveal the end where battling is FAR from animal abuse, as some others think it is.
1. Part 1

**Prologue – The Big Question**

_In the world of Pokémon, trainers are born with two purposes. One is catching super-powered species to complete the Pokédex, an electronic encyclopedia that be held like a book, and another is to train the Pokémon to fight against other Pokémon owned by another trainer. This is all to become some of the strongest trainers of all time, but recently, a controversy began regarding battling, not because of the creatures ending up wounded, but because of a rumor of a research of destructive emotional effects from various duels. This however, was not the main reason; the primary was that people have been so reliant on Pokemon that they have not realized how relevant or gifted they could be, just as much as the creatures themselves. The question was that how would everyone live without the need of their elemental pets?_

_One day, an apprehensive lawyer named Doug, was doing his paperwork in his office, as usual, until a psychologist came by, hoping to have a situation fixed._

_"What appears to be the trouble?" Doug asked. "You look kind of distressed."_

_"Frankly, the world itself," replied the psychologist. "I've been taking research regarding the ownership of Pokémon. I know that those creatures have made lives easier, but everyone has been depending on them too much, meaning that they can't be free nor can the people be independent._

_"Like my sister, I have not focused too much on the relationship between trainers and Pokémon, Dr. Baron," the layer replied. "Just to let know, I came from a region where there is no battling and only our independence, so I haven't owned a "pocket monster" for my whole life."_

_"Well, it's a good thing you do not!" interrupted Dr. Baron. "Because do you call trapping animals in spherical cages called Pokéballs "bonding"? Do you call commanding them "bonding"? And do you call teaching them violence and power hunger for a battle "bonding"? Just think about it and do something about it! Those Pokémon need to have more freedom and rights while the trainers need to realize that they are capable of living independently if they want to prove why we humans alone exist!"_

_"Perhaps you can show me the evidence why a part of our lives of owning the species must be stopped."_

_Dr. B showed the lawyer some photos of Pokémon battling or wounded and documents regarding the emotional "side effects" of fighting. When the lawyer took a look of the pictures and read the paperwork, he began to wonder if everyone has been making nothing but these mistakes since centuries ago. The question was, why have humans existed in this world in the first place?_

**An Overview of a Trainer's Life (Plus Others')**

Much earlier, Dr. Baron was tasked by the president of an organization called PET PIKA, named Inga, to make observational studies towards the trainers, in which he had done this for many years. For example, through taking notes and pictures with his camera pen, he collected some data from various battles, between two kids or one and a gym leader.

Typically, a trainer starts catching Pokémon at the age of ten. Whenever they train them, they are said to make friends with each other, considering how both are so devoted to battling and performance contests, in some cases. In addition, the kids are said to gain loyalty by training the animals in Pokemon Gyms to earn badges from Gym Leaders, like the girl-loving Rock-type specialist Brock, and Cerulean City's "Tomboyish Mermaid" Misty. This is also to become strong enough to face the Elite Four without losing once, as one way to become a "defined" Pokemon Master. Aside from this, when they succeed in a battle, the pets are frequently rewarded with fame they're always the ones to stand out; they receive lavish costumes, treats like the Pokéblock candies, Poffins (Poké-muffins), and cupcake-like PokéPuffs, and especially fan bases (For example, trainers sometimes wear costumes and buy merchandise inspired by the creatures), which they enjoy having the most.

However, not all trainers appear to be that nice. In one case, two adult brothers, known for their unhealthy rivalry and frequent money wagering after some traumatic event, have shown to abuse their Pokémon (Particularly, a Greninja and a Lucario). They have overworked them through excessive training and dosed them with untested performance-enhancing formulas, in order to have them to defeat the other to see which person has more power and wins the cash. By the time their father found out about this, they were sent to therapy, their ninja frog and jackal on two legs were sent to the Pokémon Center for treatment, and their battling privileges were taken away until they could possibly redeem themselves.

The researcher also suspected that there was also times when trainers have abandoned their Pokémon just because they didn't seem to be "worthy" to be kept. For example, a Fire-type-loving kid named Shamus had abandoned a Tepig, who lost by a Deerling despite his advantage over a Grass-type. The Fire Pig Pokémon had used to love him dearly, but the trainer did not do the same, in which he claimed that forcing a "talentless" Pokémon to battle would be worse than releasing it. Another example involved a monkey-like Chimchar who fought a horde of Zangoose with Flame Wheel, which was why one trainer, named Paul, decided to own him for its fighting potential. When Paul attempted to train the fiery chimp until it could meet its peak strength, he ended up belittling it, thus causing it to develop a deep fear of Zangoose.

Beyond the trainers, there were also criminal organizations who have often attempted to kidnap the animals in order to use them as tools. For instance, some of the most well-known…and foolhardy members of Team Rocket, named Jessie and James, have tried to catch a Pikachu (as well as other Pokémon) many times only to end up blasted off to the sky over and over. The villains have also done cruel experiments, like controlling a Mewtwo who was created through genetic engineering, which granted it a deep hatred towards humans, and resurrecting Genesect, who were desperate to go home.

Among the biggest and worst examples, there was a monopolistic circus run by a savage, power-hungry, trash-talking, black-hearted and greedy ringmaster, who was known for raising profits all for himself and mistreating and torturing millions of his Pokémon for more than twenty years. During the shows, the pets were forced to carry out extremely dangerous stunts; examples included a Shaymin, a Grass-type, jumping through fiery floating hoops high in the air, and a Panpour, a monkey-like Water-type, juggling ten heavy, overcharged tasers in an imitation pond. Those who did well would only have all of their credit taken by the ringmaster, and those who failed on their routines would end up whipped for their first penalty, electrocuted deliberately for the second, so on and so forth, and skinned alive or used for traumatic lab experiments before their gruesome execution, for their last punishment. Not only that, they had to live in small, rusty cages, while put in chains to hinder movement even further. And more, they were force-fed with some kind of greenish-brown slime infused with chemicals that were to temporarily enhance their performances, in order to do stunts more extreme. In some cases, some of them have gone through an illegal process of genetic mutation to change them into unstable "freaks with torturous health problems" (like the Lugia-Latios fusion), just for entertainment purposes. If some are wondering, the Pokémon were not performing for exercise and fame, but rather out of immense peer pressure. Their muscles only got chronic cramps, some of their bones often shattered, anxiety disorders were guaranteed, and overall, what they did caused all harm and no good. And the worst part was that a majority of the mass number of the circus pets were kidnapped from many trainers rather than those caught in the wild.

As a result, Dr. Baron called for a lawsuit against the inhumane super circus. Later, in court, he revealed the ringmasters' weapons. "Here, we have a whip, which was a vine pulled off from a Venusaur and modified with spikes, a 10,000-volt electroshock rod, and a nuclear-powered mind-controlling ray gun. He's been putting fear to the extreme in order for his animals to obey him in all. In addition, based on our statistics, the circus had abducted more Pokémon than any other villainous group in history, with over 5,000,000 caged."

"I declare the emcee to be guilty!" bellowed the judge, during the end of the trial. "As punishment for his immense cruelty towards the Pokemon performers, he shall be heavily fined and sentenced to jail for an extremely long period of time!"

After that, the green-haired N, who wore a green tuxedo, and Team Plasma members, disguised as business owners, acknowledged the lawsuit and visited the PET PIKA headquarters to fund the group with a 1,000,000-Pokédollar paycheck for winning.

"Well done, Inga and Dr. Baron," informed N, "for enforcing your case with the evidence of the abusive tools used by the ringmaster."

"With consciousness towards the Pokemon, and perseverance," replied Dr. B, " there is nothing we can't do to stop pet abuse, no matter our hardships."

Just to let you know, we too, want to "support" Pokémon rights like this. Perhaps one day, you could find a way to stop battling as well."

"Yes, we could..." replied the president.


	2. Part 2

**Chapter 1 – How to Stop A Trainer from Training Pokémon**

A week after Dr. Baron's research, Inga went to an airplane flying to the Kalos region. While it may be quite tough for her, she had one special mission: to give everyone an education against Pokémon battles. Back then, she had never owned a Pokémon or paid much attention to the duels in his life until her career as a Pokémon rights activist. During the flight, she brought a large aluminum briefcase that contained documentaries, inflatable Pokémon dummies, which would be used later, a high-tech and ball-shaped levitating projector, several sets of hardcover independence starter kits, named _Monsters Free From Pockets and How Humans Alone Can Be Capable_, and so on. Without a doubt, the lady was determined to free the species from all violence and unlock the "potential" of everyone's own competencies.

After the six-hour flight, the activist had arrived to her destination of Lumiose City, the largest area in the region. "I wonder how many centuries are those dependent people messing with those Pokémon," Inga whispered, paying attention to everyone playing with the animals. "I believe they are pretending to be friends in order to turn them into puppets. This is why I have never owned one in my life." Walking away from the residents, while dozing off, she spotted the Lumiose bookstore with an ad poster of her anti-Pokémon-captivity book, marked as a best-seller. Then, a group of interviewers showed up with microphones, along with photographers taking her pictures.

_"Inga," _asked one of the inquirers._ "What was your incentive of writing your book?"_

She replied, _"Well, I haven't announced my starter kit or even ordered copies, rendering this another illusion, but I can say in a nutshell that Pokemon are never ours to catch, control, or mess with in any way or any form!"_

Suddenly, a shiny Fennekin knocked over her, ending her day dream. A young French braid-haired trainer, named Adeline, came by to get her grey-colored Fox Pokémon.

"Sorry about the mishap, madam," she apologized, picking up her Fennekin. "Sometimes, Percy likes to run around to exercise. I'll pay more to attention to her from now on."

Inga didn't say a word. She simply stared at the little girl and walked away. And while she began putting up posters everywhere, Adeline carried Percy the Fennekin and returned to her older cousin, the well-known Serena, who was reading one of the displayed prints, on one of the lampposts, regarding PET PIKA.

"What are you reading, big cousin?" asked Adeline, gently tugging her sibling's red skirt.

"Well, it says here that Pokémon are not ours to catch, control, or mess with in any way or any form," replied Serena. Then she continued, "Also, it says with a strange eerie font that they only act loyal to trainers to make us happy while in 'reality', they are scared and depressed, and that they long to be free to create their true happy lives. In addition, I'm seeing some Pokémon in chains, full of wounds, and shedding tears."

"Is that true that Pokémon want to be free since they don't want us to be our owners or live in Pokéballs, in which we don't know what's like to be in one?"

"Well, for my Pokémon, they seem to be happy traveling with me, especially my Delphox, who was the first one I've owned. I have no clue why that lady is posting surreal posters like the one I just read. But I have a feeling that she'll be getting lots of attention."

One day later, after posters were hung all over each of every city, there was a conference near Prism Tower, with all the trainers in the city brought together. It was a campaign of the relatively new organization PET PIKA, hosted by none than President Inga, along with Dr. Baron.

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen," greeted the leader. "My name is Inga, the president of our new foundation that we like to call the **_P_**_okémon **E**thic **T**roops of **P**icketers **I**ndependent from **K**eeping **A**nimals _or better said as _PET PIKA_." She then activated the ball-shaped projector, showing various recordings of the trainers interacting with the pets in various ways. "We are here to inform you that for centuries, you have all been making a major mistake on relying on Pokémon too much, using them to battle and of course, having them do almost everything for you, like harvesting food or performing on shows. Sure, they have been the stars in this world, but this is exactly the reason why you depend on them too much that you don't consider yourselves as self-capable, and even mistreat them out of…well, power! What you don't know is that those creatures have longed to be free from _round cages_ and safe from violence, in which they were never ours to catch, control, or mess with in any way or any form. And that is the sole reason why I am helping every one of you become independent so that you can prove yourselves how amazing you can be. The Pokémon have already proven to shine; now's the time for us humans to do the same."

Calem, one of Serena's friends, raised his hand patiently. "I have a question. Aren't Pokémon special creatures that have unique powers that we don't have? I think that's the reason why we train them to get better."

"That's why you shouldn't control them. If they are more powerful, they ought to have the right to make their own choices beyond living under a Pokéball and your stiff rules they live by. As for you trainers, like what I said, if you plan to release the creatures, I can help you prove yourselves just as special, maybe even more so without the need of creatures, if you follow my steps."

"You really can do that?" asked Shauna, another of Serena's friends.

Inga opened her briefcase and picked up one of the copies of her book, _Monsters Free From Pockets and How Humans Alone Can Be Capable. _"The first hundred trainers who get in line will receive this starter kit for free! And after that, everyone will be convinced to spare hundreds of Pokémon and guided to live a more meaningful life than ever in history. Now, I can't just force you to give up on battling, but hopefully, you will first give this a book a chance."

All of the trainers got in line to receive the president's guidebooks and began reading right away. As for Serena and little Adeline, they were hesitant to give in, until the next day when they had a short Pokémon battle, with the younger using her Aromatisse against her cousin's Talonflame. This time though, they took more caution, and resulting from the activity, they started to wonder if they themselves could be just as special as the creatures they own.

"Say, I've been thinking, Serena," said Adeline. "Don't you wish you could be just as talented as our Pokémon?"

"Well, I thought we already are, but perhaps we could be a little bit more, so you do have a point."

So the two walked to the Lumiose bookstore, with an ad poster of Inga's anti-Pokémon-captivity book, though it didn't say "best seller" like what was dreamt of by the lady. Nonetheless, each of them picked up their own copy.

After skimming through the kit, Serena concluded, "In the first couple of chapters, there are some theories regarding Pokémon suffering in Pokéballs and negative emotional effects of battling, though I've heard that these claims were not yet conclusive." While showing her cousin the pictures of battling alternatives, she continued, "The rest of the book then focuses on activities, like sports (including soccer, football, archery, and track and field), martial arts, material arts (like crafts), dance lessons, group instrument performances, acrobatics, vehicle racing (whether it's cars, boats or planes), and even stunt performances like skateboarding and extreme biking. However, there is no involvement of Pokémon, which pretty much contrasts how we always bring ours to every event we go."

Even so, making a change, the girls decided to toughen up somewhat and tried skateboarding at a park at Kalos Route 5. They bought their own skateboards, and for first time, they slipped and fell, and for the next seven times, they kept losing control and ramming into various obstacles, like trees, rocks, and garbage cans, and end up lying down dizzy, with imaginary Fetchlings circling around their heads.

"Good thing we were wearing safety equipment," moaned Adeline, at least with wounds very minimal.

Nonetheless, the two seemed not to be the type of individuals into sports.

As for their friends, Calem, Shauna, and Trevor, and Tierno, who was another childhood friend, they were learning how to play bumper pool, a two-player pocket billiards game played on an octagonal or rectangular table fitted with an array of fixed cushioned obstacles. No Pokémon were involved, so they considered it okay to play. At times however…

"Wait, hang on, weren't you supposed to have only one turn, _big guy_?" protested Shauna.

"Um," replied Tierno, "I am pretty sure each person gets two turns." He then held his cue like a bō stick and hit one of his white balls so hard that it flew out of the table, hitting a stranger in the head. "Sorry!" he responded.

"Well, it looks like you've been holding the stick wrong," suggested Trevor, "and that you've been using too much force, in which your ball just soared out of the board. Really, you need to know your raw strength."

"Or that the orbs could've been made even denser," grumbled the heavy fellow.

_"Denser than his mind, I suppose?" _thought the short boy sarcastically.

Overall, they disputed on how the rules worked, considering the number of tries in each turn, how they are supposed to hold the cues, and how much force is used to push the billboard balls, but they eventually got the hang of it...partially. Meanwhile, after being released for fresh air for the time being, their pets (Calem's Chespin, Shauna's Bulbasaur, Trevor's Charmander, and Tierno's Squirtle) watched their owners play inside the café, by looking through the windows.

"I wish I could learn how to play bumper pool," sighed the Chespin. "Free time is nice, but I'd rather be with Calem so we could play or work together."

"But Inga doesn't want our owners to rely us for purposes too much," said the Bulbasaur. "I guess this is one way for a trainer to be 'truly' productive."

"You know, I've noticed how the typical trainer only stands there while giving us directions during a battle," added the Charmander.

"All the more reason for independence season, bro!" replied the Squirtle. "Now let's be thankful that we're all free. What do you say we go play hide and seek?"

They all agreed and hiked to the park so Chespin could count, until the rest found their hiding spot for him to find.

On the next day, Adeline and Serena came to see Mr. Caron, the middle-aged Berry vendor at the farmers' market, hoping to be tasked with a better activity that doesn't involve the need of Pokémon.

"Hi, Mr. Caron!" they greeted.

"Hello there, Adeline and Serena," greeted back the old man. "What brings you here?"

The older girl asked, "Could you please assign us a job, one without the obligation of Pokémon, to be exact?"

"Huh, strange," replied Mr. Caron,"I thought you always loved Pokémon battling. And Serena, I remember the time when you defeated the Elite Four in the Kalos League. Now perhaps you two are turning over a new leaf?"

"We are trying to get our minds off of the everyday hobby, for some reason," replied Adeline, "which is why we would like you to give us a job, to find out if we like it or not."

"Well, you could pull the wagon near the Oran berries, fill it with the new shipment of fruit from the truck, and pull it back so you can refill the baskets."

"Sure thing!" said the girls. At first, this task sounded easy, but it turned out, the cart was actually a little heavy; in addition, carrying the boxes full of Berries was no picnic. They consistently got more tired, as each box became increasingly heavier, one by one. Still, they chose not to take a break, out of determination to get the job done; while the fruit vendor thanked them for helping out, the considerably painful work had caused the girls to gain awful cramps that would last for a couple of days, if getting their skin sweaty was bad enough already.

After taking another stroll for an observation towards the trainers who were trying to break their battling habit, Inga bought some Pecha Berries from Mr. Caron, who later told her about the hard work Adeline and Serena had done. Then, she stopped by to see the two, taking a breather on the bench and asked, "Any progress from you two? Because I see that you both look exhausted, after helping the fruit seller by bringing him the Berries with a cart."

"We're working on it, sort of," wheezed Adeline. "But it's so tiring to bring food Pokémon love to eat. *sighs* In fact, it would've been better if a Machamp did this kind of work."

"I understand how tough it is to do something on your own, but remember, it's important to learn how to survive in the world, since we technically can't live in a pet's world. But if you want an easier job, why don't you two help out in the car wash next time? It doesn't require lifting as much."

And so the girls tried working at the hand car wash service, a place to clean various vehicles, once again without the need of Pokémon. Adeline was in charge of the scrubbing, with a Pikachu-shaped sponge, whereas Serena was responsible for rinsing the cars, with one of the hoses. Whenever the two performed, a mean Murkrow would repeatedly steal the sponge, much to the annoyance of Adeline, in which she had to snatch it back in every response. To make things worse, there were even times when the Dark/Flying-Type plopped its droppings on the vehicles.

"Murk, Murkrow! (Eww! Now that's disgusting!)" laughed the Darkness Pokémon.

"Great, now it's time to re-wash!" groaned Adeline, who was covering her mouth and pinching her nose. "Don't breathe whatever he left off…"

**Chapter 2 – Let It Come to You**

A week had passed, and so far, none of the trainers have enjoyed their new activities, disparaging hopes of breaking their old traditions. In fact, they have all returned to their habits of battling, with each Pokemon fighting for their owners to win a reward from the losers. However, they have not bet money as frequently, since the incident between the two brothers who owned a Greninja and a Lucario.

As for Adeline, Serena, Shauna, Calem, Trevor, and Tierno, they all met at a park, discussing their failures to achieve self-change.

"So how did your battle-free week go for you two?" Shauna asked Adeline and Serena.

"Honestly, it wasn't all that motivating," replied the little girl. "We tried skating, carrying Berries in a wagon, washing cars, picking up litter at the streets, in which the giant bags kept leaking garbage, and even tried delivering mail. I'm telling you, they're either a little boring or easier said than done."

"As for the rest of us," replied Trevor, "We tried playing bumper pool, golf, and poker. Not only that we lacked experience, but we also just couldn't stop thinking about our usual knacks of Pokemon battling. Just think about it, it's part of our DNA to fight."

"My words exactly. What could be more exciting than that? Then again, I'm starting to wonder if the Pokemon are actually happy battling..."

Calem raised his hand. "Say, isn't there anything that we enjoy doing, besides dueling? Think of something you CAN do for sure. To me, I seem to have a habit of whistling, considering how I do it while taking a stroll."

"Well, I do enjoy baking pastries and particularly, singing, in which" replied Serena. "Lately, I have been humming in the shower and writing songs, whenever I feel either happy or depressed. However, I would feel unconformable singing in front of others. Nonetheless, I have dreams of becoming an indie singer, as I listen to jazz, country, and blues music on the radio, time after time.

"To me," added Adeline, "I tend to make clay sculptures, especially those based on cute Pokemon, including Fairy types, whenever I'm not battling. And we all know that it's taking pictures for Trevor, and dancing for Tierno. (She looked at the two.) Am I right, guys?"

The twos' eyes widened. "You are certainly right."

"As for me, however," commented Shauna, "I have yet to come up with something I'd be good at, although I am good at solving puzzles."

"So by the looks of it," replied Calem, "this all means that battling isn't the only thing we're all good at. You know, we didn't have to look for a hobby, because well, they already came to us in the first place! We just had to consider our talents, since we have potential to shine, like our pets."

"But we still have to look after our Pokemon, since we are responsible for them, Calem," retorted Serena.

"You're right, Serena…But maybe it wouldn't hurt for them to have a week off or two? I'm sure we'll manage to live. "You're right, Serena…But maybe it wouldn't hurt for them to have a week off or two? I'm sure we'll manage to live this way. Just remember that we all doing this to make Inga and her PET PIKA organization happy." Calem then faced everyone. "So, what do you say? Can we survive another non-battling week?"

The group was still reluctant to agree in this, but they eventually did. For example, Adeline spent time learning how to make clay statues Legendary and Mega Evolved Pokemon, but despite her potential, and due to her limited supplies, which were a plastic knife, a spoon, and a needle, she often ended up struggling on the details, like how her Mewtwo statue looking like he was moping, with its tail a little too small, or how the Ho-oh model looked like it was tired and yawning. One week later, however, her skills gradually improved when practicing her patience on fixing the proportions and expressions or getting them right, like how her Lugia statue smiled normally and had its body match perfectly, like in her Pokedex.

As for Trevor, he borrowed his father's DLSR camera and started learning photography skills from a book that focused on how to take pictures like a professional. This took him a while to learn how to use the camera, considering the complicated controls, but he eventually managed to calculate the exposure of his photos of the diverse landscapes and metropolises, almost as well as his father. One day, he helped Pokémon Stylist Jessica make a catalog by taking pictures as an assignment.

"So what do you think of these?" he asked when he finished developing the photos which focused on the dog-like Furfrou, fixed up by the groomer.

"Wonderful job, Trevor!" responded the surprised stylist, with her palms on her cheeks. "I mean, look at those bright and bold colors and crystal-clear details! And who knows? Perhaps you'll be an even better photographer than your dad one day!"

"Huh…"

As a particular example, Serena began to learn how to play the acoustic guitar she found in her garage of her home, to go with her gift of singing. She asked no one to teach her, since she couldn't afford a music class with only 5 Pokedollars, and that she wanted to be more independent; instead, she learned by reading the manual that came with the instrument. She taught herself how to tune the strings with the machine heads, memorized the notes and the location of the frets, as well as the tablature chart. After her initial guitar practice, she worked on singing the songs she wrote earlier. One of them focused on her Delphox, when it was its pre-evolved form in the past; it was entitled _Me and My Fennekin_, which narrated her affection with her Fire-type, who used to save her from a queen-bee-like Vespiquen, looked after her all the time, and shared her interests with fashion and baking. Another was about the two legendary Pokemon, the life-restoring Xerneas and the energy-consuming Yveltal, and how they contribute to the destruction and rebirth of life.

On the next day, Serena decided to practice again at a meadow near Odyssey Village. There, she found a stump to sit on, while playing her guitar and singing at the same time, in front of her Delphox, Talonflame, and other Pokemon she released as her audience. Doing these two things in sync, however, was difficult, as she frequently lost her timing on her instrument while vocalizing her lyrics.

"Ohh… Singing and string-plucking are what I'm good at, when separate, but doing both at the same time is more difficult than I thought!" she moaned mildly, after her ten failed attempts of multitasking. "Maybe this wouldn't be worth it…"

From the perspective of the creatures…

"I know it WILL be worth it, Serena!" encouraged Delphox, with the accent of a New Yorker. "You just have to keep going with it, no longer how long it would take!"

"She's right," added Talonflame, "you were born to be an indie singer; isn't that the reason why you listen to country, jazz, and blues music in the radio, day by day? If some of the singers from broadcast can play and sing at the same time so can you. You just need to put heart to it."

When the girl saw her Pokemon cheering for her, she noticed that they wanted her not to quit, but to continue practicing until she improves.

In the meantime, before leaving the region, Inga and Dr. Baron were walking their way to the faraway airport, until they spotted the guitar player practicing on the stump.

"It looks like at least one person is following our footsteps after all, Inga," said Dr. Baron. "In fact, she could even join our team, one day."

"Let's not think too far yet," replied the leader. "However, if she could run a concert, that's when I would be more than glad to come."


	3. Part 3

**Chapter 3 – The Zorua Who Loved Me**

In spite of their initial failure, Inga and Dr. Baron left Kalos and traveled the Kanto region. There, they returned to their headquarters where they reunited with the staff members of PET PIKA.

"So how did it go, President?" one of the vice presidents asked.

Inga replied, "Honestly, not as well as we hoped it would turn out, despite our long planning. Apparently, it was difficult for the trainers in Kalos to adapt to new daily tasks without the involvement of Pokemon. And I am sure I can say the same for those in other regions."

"Have you considered taking little steps at a time when it comes to getting them to change?" said another vice president.

The president continued, "Well, we promoted my book Monsters Free From Pockets and How Humans Alone Can Be Capable, and while it sold moderately well, it also received mixed reviews from critics with criticisms about the chapters being a little too vague and predictable and that the evidence of Pokemon cruelty was not near convincing or prevalent enough to outlaw battling, which may explain why the "revolution" we set up was short-lived."

Dr. Baron added, "We could have done better, considering how we succeeded in previous cases like how we persuaded several butchers to stop producing meat from Farfetch'd to prevent their extinction, boycotted Arcanine fur coats to stop the skinning businesses, helped outlaw Pokemon experimentation, and even sued a particular ringmaster for mistreating the pets at his circus. But if there is one thing we can't stop, it is Pokemon battling in general which is what runs in the Trainers' blood."

The co-founder of PET PIKA, named Zandro, came to the meeting and responded, "Well, all we can say is that while you're on the right track, it takes time for anyone to adapt. We all acknowledge that change can be difficult, which is why it doesn't happen very often. Trainers apparently have their own values of who they are and what they do as well as holdbacks and weaknesses so it would have to take one miracle to transform the society and get them to be happy living cruelty-free at the same time. But there is one question we need to answer: what would it take exactly?'"

Dr. Baron advised, "Perhaps one of us could first take a survey on several Trainers regarding how they treat their pets," suggested Dr. Baron. "This way, we can understand their character and apply to those by getting the kids to do alternative activities based on what they are good at, rather than just telling them to do something else without taking the time to understand them."

Inga felt surprised. "…Why of course, that's what we should've done earlier! Last time, it was like we didn't really know the Trainers, which is why it was hard for them to change their ways of living. If this is the case, starting tomorrow, we will have some of our crew be the surveyors, who will be asking questions to the Trainers, regarding their traits demonstrated by the way they act towards their Pokemon. Will we agree with this?"

"Not a bad idea at all," replied Zandro.

On the next day, while the staff members were interviewing the Trainers, starting at Pallet Town, a black fox-like Zoura was walking on the brick wall surrounding the headquarters. The president, who stood near the bushes, took notice and watched it scratch its back with its leg. For some reason, it was the first time in a many years that she encountered a wild Pokemon, although she was not the person who would capture one since she was against interfering with creatures of any sort.

In fact, she had a fear of hurting Pokemon, as well as other humans, believing that fighting was nothing but trouble. Back in her days as a teenager, in a psychology class, she studied physical violence between people, in which she learned about how attacking a victim negatively affects the society by causing serious injuries, trauma, demotivation, and even death. That had made her wonder if the same consequences would apply to the creatures, though there is a conception that no one ever knows how they really feel about battling, despite what it usually seems.

To her, however, she did end up scarred when a wild Dusknoir, a Ghost-type, attacked her with the move Shadow Punch, for having a picnic near its territory. Consequently, she was sent to an ambulance, where she developed her fear of violence and assumed that she knew how a Pokemon feels when facing another since the incident that traumatized her. From that day forward, her mother ordered her and the whole family to stop going anywhere dangerous, for the sake of safety.

After Inga's flashback, the Zorua came down from the wall and ambled closer to the President.

"Why are you here, little one?" the lady asked. "Are you lost?"

The black fox shook its head. As soon as Inga started to head to the area, where her crew was interviewing the Trainers, the Zorua decided to follow her in which she acknowledged this and wondered why. It could be that the Pokemon was hoping to bond with her.

"Can you please just run along, since I want to be alone as usual?" she asked politely.

Refusing to do so, the Tricky Fox Pokemon kept walking behind her, in order to get her to become its first friend. Eventually, Inga attempted to give in, in which she aimed to rub its fur. However, she was hesitant to do this, out of her belief against interfering with creatures. Still, after some thinking, she managed to pet the Zorua at the end, as she decided to have a friend for once in a while. Next, she showed her the berries from her bag.

"Zorua, would you like some Pecha Berries I bought from the market?"

The fox nodded with enthusiasm, so the lady tossed it three, each caught with its small jaws.

After feeding it, the president let it play one of the inflatable Pikachu that was in her briefcase. At the end, the fox suddenly realized that she had to run an errand, so it had to leave her.

Meanwhile, at Pallet Town, the surveyors have asked the Trainers some questions regarding how they catch Pokemon, their behavior towards their pets, the strategies they use to train them, and the food they feed them. This was the very first time they talked to the kids, considering how the PET PIKA members preferred to work in the shadows, due to paranoia and even superstition. But it now seemed to be that they were giving them a chance to speak, in order to evaluate some claims of the people in general.

At the afternoon, Inga came to check the crew, in which they told her that they had fulfilled the opinion poll by surveying everyone in town. Then, they returned to the control center to analyze their sample of Trainers. For example…

"Leaf, how do you treat your Pokemon?" one of the staff members asked.

The brown-haired girl responded, "Well, I usually train them through positive and sophisticated reinforcements, such as encouragement and providing them treats as rewards."

"What do you feed them?"

"As I want to bring the best for their health, I only feed them high quality vegetarian Pokémon food, like the dry food pellets that I feed to my Grass-types."

Meanwhile, another staff member asked Red, "How do you catch Pokemon?"

"Well, I catch wild Pokemon after tackling them to get their energy down low enough, but not too low that they faint. Just to let you know, there's more than just catching them all. Sometimes, we need to get to know the creatures first, and treat them like they're one of us, if we're one of them."

After the survey, when the group saw the president again, one associate told her, "Despite positive responses, as we stay true to your shared goals, we deem the kids to be naïve and the survey to be somehow biased. We would, however, be able to send them to special programs, later on. Based their personalities and the strategies they used for dueling, the Trainers have suggested potential of becoming famous, talented specialists like how Leaf hinted that she would make a good botanist, based on how she liked to study the occupations of her grass-type Pokemon, particularly her Venusaur. Other examples include how a 17-year old, named Red, would be able to manage a community service program, based on his altruism towards many Pokemon, and Blue's assurance of becoming a rock star, after mentioning how he uses his electric guitar to get the adrenaline of his Pokemon 'pumping'."

"We were wondering, where were you while we were surveying?" Zandro asked Inga. "Because you were a bit late, as you could see."

"…Well, I ensure you that I had a few problems to deal with," replied the president, feeling anxious.

"What kind of problems?"

"It's nothing important really."

At night, when the president was at home, she heard a noise at the backyard. When she got there, she noticed that it was the Zorua who came back, after it spent some time with her. "It's you again. You must have picked up my smell."

The black fox then attempted to entertain her by shapeshifting into the president.

"How did you do that?" she asked, looking flabbergasted. "And the question is, why are you disguised as me?" Then, she began to notice the tail behind the doppelgänger; out of curiosity, she touched it, causing the Pokemon to revert back to its own identity. What shocked her was that it wouldn't attack her for what she did. This was ironic, considering how one of her rules was to avoid provoking the creatures by not messing with them, if interfering with them. Of course, she was lucky that it was only an infant Pokemon; otherwise, she would've been in trouble.

Next, the Zorua created another illusion by turning the backyard into an island. This had reminded Inga of her last vacation at a beach at the Orange Archipelago, where she rested on her deckchair with her umbrella over her. In all, it was like it wanted to know her more, after three years of watching her as a way to become her friend.

**Chapter 4 – Lafayette**

Not too long ago, a CEO named Devrim Lafayette began his company called RevoEvolution, which was not only to "change" the lifestyle of the Trainers but was also destined to dethrone the Silph Company, the leading manufacturer of Pokémon technology including the Pokéballs. To be more specific, he and his team had a parade of supposed goals of making the products affordable, sustaining the environment even further, and re-inventing the tradition of battling.

Before founding his business, he had his stubborn woes with taking care of his Pokémon; they kept getting cold during bedtime, he had to calm them down whenever they got into a fight with each other, and the homemade food he bought for them kept expiring too soon in which the pets wouldn't eat as much as what he hoped for. Sometime later, he finally came up with ideas to fix these problems by drawing interesting designs of what would be his future inventions beyond imagination. The first potential products included a baton-shaped taming device, an electric blanket to keep the pets warm, and a vacuuming container to store the food and keep them fresh for extended periods of time. When he showed them off at school, his drawings have met with equally polarizing reactions.

_ "I am liking how you drew that blanket that would warm up my Growlithe," _responded one of his friends.

_ "On the contrary, I really don't think it's possible to make that taming device or food preserving jar since no one has enough brains to pull it off like that,"_ added another student. _"Just saying…"_

While his friends and family considered the concepts to be "interesting" and "convenient", others found them "unrealistic" and "ridiculous". No one could agree on what to make the ideas as a whole.

Despite this kind of debate, years later, Lafayette eventually used all of his concept drawings to turn them into reality, though they turned out to be wishful thinking at first. For instance, there was one time when his first prototype of his electric blanket overheated in which it burnt a monkey-like Aipom 's body hair, much to its dismay and embarrassment.

"_That thing did not turn my Aipom naked, Devrim," _said one of his friends.

As a result, he had to give it a bath for a month until the purple creature's hair grew back. This however, was not the worst of it. Sometime later, when the president, Dr. Baron and the PET PIKA members arrived and acknowledged this incident, they gave him a serious talk.

_ "...We can't have you do this any longer, child,"_ advised President Inga._ "When we saw your blanket burn that Aipom's body, we fear that your inventions may be a danger to the Pokémon in which they must not be created by all means."_

_ "But like I said, my designs have potential of improving the lives of the Trainers and their pets and-"_

_ "You do NOT want to risk it, and that is the end of our discussion!" scolded Dr. Baron. "Now go home and STAY away from other owners' Pokémon from now on. Disobey, and there will be consequences." _And so he and the associates left.

_"I was only trying to help…" _Devrim muttered glumly. After this, he quietly looked for a bench to sit; this was where he met a very young genius student named Clemont, who came by wanting to talk to him about what happened.

_ "You must be Devrim," _suggested the child.

_ "That's right, I guess… What's your name, 'blonde-hair'?"_

_ "My name is Clemont, student of my teacher Éclairiesse. When I saw those cool designs you showed off, that was when I started believing that you'd be a great inventor one day. After all, the future will be soon, thanks to science."_

_ "I doubt that, considering how I failed at creating my first invention, which was an electric blanket that turned an Aipom naked. Not only did I have to give him a wash, but PET PIKA is also making sure that I move on from this day forward."_

_ "I'm sorry to hear that. That group tends to be strict when it comes to activism. But you didn't mean to do any harm, did you?"_

_ "The mishap I caused was an accident. I was only trying a figure out a way to get out of those traumatic chores the Trainers and I have to undergo."_

_ "Well, just because PET PIKA is antagonizing you this way doesn't mean that you have to stop going. I'd like you to keep doing what lies in your passion and then prove them that you won't even hurt a tiny Bug-type!"_

_ "But where would that take me?"_

_ "Well, I too have a dream of becoming an inventor, so as long as we, especially you, don't give up, I'm sure you and I will be heading to the right direction!"_

_ "Then I have a suggestion: what if you made a portable Pokéball swapper to digitally trade Pokémon on the go even without the requirement of meeting another Trainer?"_

_ "That could get you to a big success! Just make sure that it doesn't hurt them, alright?"_

Years later, after he founded RevoEvolution, he revealed his first products consisting of a series of special collars to keep the pets from turning too hostile (based on the old baton design), a vacuum jar to preserve their kibble and snacks, and an improved version of the electric blanket that no longer overheated like what the first prototype did to the Aipom a long time ago. However, despite good receptions, sales ended up disappointing due to estrangement causing the lack of public interest. When acknowledging this, the PET PIKA members weren't mad about the CEO continuing his path; instead, they made prank ads mocking the limited usefulness of his products; for example, one of them showed a picture of a Jigglypuff lifting a huge barbell and cited that the collars could grant the Pokémon super strength. As a result of the sales and the ads, Lafayette called his companions for a meeting and considered stepping down, fearing that his company was not worth it as he hoped it would.

Then, one day, when he took a stroll at a street, a hooded tween came to see him.

_ "I heard that the beginning of your career was a little rocky, Mr. Laffayette," _admitted the boy. Then, he showed him a blueprint of a mysterious device, resembling a Pokéball. _"It will be dangerous to go alone. Take this."_

_ "Must be one of those orbs we use to catch Pokémon,"_ remarked Lafayette,holding the blue paper. _"Are you sure that this won't hurt the creatures?"_

_ "Well, you see, this type of Pokéball is like ten times as durable, providing extra protection, and it's got an ability of empowering the creatures into 'Legendaries', which are some reasons why I am giving you an offer of providing such object to help your company. It will cost you, though."_

_ "I will make you any investment you desire if you really will help me."_

The two gave confident faces and shook hands politely.


	4. Part 4

**Chapter 4 – Lafayette**

Not too long ago, a CEO named Devrim Lafayette began his company called RevoEvolution. It was not only to "change" the lifestyle of the Trainers, but was also destined to dethrone the Silph Company, the leading manufacturer of Pokémon technology, including the Pokéballs. Furthermore, he and his team had a parade of supposed goals of making the products affordable, sustaining the environment even further, and re-inventing the tradition of battling.

Before founding his business back in Kalos, his original home place, he had his stubborn woes with taking care of his Pokémon. They kept getting cold during bedtime, he had to calm them down whenever they got into a fight with each other, and the homemade food he bought for them kept expiring too soon in which the pets wouldn't eat as much as what he hoped for. Sometime later, he finally came up with ideas to fix these problems by drawing interesting designs of what would be his future inventions beyond imagination. The first potential products included a baton-shaped taming device, an electric blanket to keep the pets warm, and a vacuuming container to store the food and keep them fresh for extended periods of time. When he showed them off at school, his drawings were met with equally polarizing reactions.

_"I am liking how you drew that blanket! I'm sure it would warm up my Growlithe well," _responded one of his friends.

_"On the contrary, I really don't think it's possible to make that taming device or food preserving jar since no one has enough brains to pull it off like that," _added another student. _"Just saying…"_

While his friends and family considered the concepts to be "interesting" and "convenient", others found them "unrealistic" and "ridiculous". No one could agree on what to make the ideas as a whole.

Despite this kind of debate, Lafayette eventually used all of his concept drawings to turn them into reality, though they turned out to be wishful thinking at first. For instance, there was one time when his first prototype of his electric blanket overheated, which burnt a monkey-like Aipom 's body hair, much to its dismay and embarrassment.

_"That thing did not turn my Aipom naked, Devrim," _said one of his friends.

As a result, he had to give it a bath for a month until the purple creature's hair grew back. This, however, was not the worst of it. Sometime later, when the president, Dr. Baron, and the PET PIKA members arrived and acknowledged this incident, they gave him a serious talk.

_"...We can't have you do this any longer, child," _advised President Inga._ "When we saw your blanket burn that Aipom's body, we fear that your_ _inventions may be a danger to the Pokémon. Perhaps they must not be created by any means."_

_"But like I said, my designs have potential of improving the lives of the Trainers and their pets and-"_

_"You do NOT want to risk it, and that is the end of our discussion!" _scolded Dr. Baron._ "Now go home and STAY away from other owners' Pokémon from now on. Disobey, and there will be consequences." _And so he and the associates left.

_"I was only trying to help…" _Devrim muttered glumly. After this, he quietly looked for a bench to sit. This was where he met a very young genius student; he had blond hair, wore eyeglasses, and looked relatively scrawny. He came by wanting to talk to Devrim about what happened.

_"You must be Devrim," _suggested the child.

_"That's right, I guess… What's your name, 'blonde-hair'?"_

_"My name is Clemont, student of my teacher Éclairiesse. When I saw those cool designs you showed off, that was when I started believing that you'd be a great inventor one day. After all, the future will be soon, thanks to science."_

_"I doubt that, considering how I failed at creating my first invention, which was an electric blanket that turned an Aipom naked. Not only did I have to give him a wash, but PET PIKA is also making sure that I move on from this day forward."_

_"I'm sorry to hear that. That group tends to be strict when it comes to activism. But you didn't mean to do any harm, did you?"_

_"The mishap I caused was an accident. I was only trying a figure out a way to get out of those traumatic chores the Trainers and I have to undergo."_

_"Well, just because PET PIKA is antagonizing you this way doesn't mean that you have to stop going. I'd like you to keep doing what lies in your passion and then prove them that you won't even hurt a tiny Bug-type!"_

_"But where would that take me?"_

_"Well, I too have a dream of becoming an inventor, so as long as we, especially you, don't give up, I'm sure you and I will be heading to the right direction!"_

_"Then I have a suggestion: what if you made a portable Pokéball swapper to digitally trade Pokémon on the go even without the requirement of meeting another Trainer?"_

_"That could get you to a big success! Just make sure that it doesn't hurt them, alright?"_

Years later, after he founded RevoEvolution, he revealed his first products. They consisted of a series of special collars to keep the pets from turning too hostile (based on the old baton design), a vacuum jar to preserve their kibble and snacks, and an improved version of the electric blanket that no longer overheated like what the first prototype did to the Aipom a long time ago. However, despite good receptions, sales ended up disappointing due to estrangement causing the lack of public interest. When acknowledging this, the PET PIKA members were not mad about the CEO continuing his path; instead, they made prank ads mocking the limited usefulness of his products; for example, one of them showed a picture of a Jigglypuff lifting a huge barbell and cited that the collars could grant the Pokémon super strength. Because of the sales and the ads, Lafayette called his companions for a meeting and considered stepping down, fearing that his company was not worth it as he hoped it would.

Then, one day, when he took a stroll at a street, a hooded tween came to see him.

_"I heard that the beginning of your career was a little rocky,_ _Mr. Laffayette," _admitted the boy. Then, he showed him a blueprint of a mysterious device, resembling a Pokéball. _"It will be dangerous to go alone. Take this."_

_"Must be one of those orbs we use to catch Pokémon," _remarked Lafayette, holding the blue paper. _"Are you sure that this won't hurt the creatures?"_

_"Well, you see, this type of Pokéball is like ten times as durable, providing extra protection, and it's got an ability of empowering the creatures into 'Legendaries', which are some reasons why I am giving you an offer of providing such object to help your company. It will cost you, though."_

_"I will make you any investment you desire if you really will help me."_

The two smiled, confident in their teamwork, and shook hands politely.

**Chapter 5 - Eyeballing  
**

Sometime later, what PET PIKA had realized was that there was a new type of Pokéball already released. The "iBall", which was half the size a normal Pokéball, came in colors of platinum, gold, silver, and bronze, and had a button resembling a human eye.

A month ago in Kanto, RevoEvolution, unveiled the "revolutionary" item, in which Devrim Lafayette cited in a public event that it would soon replace the current red and white orbs everyone had used for years, as a way to "improve the Pokémon World forever".

_"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. And welcome to our first RevoEvolution conference!" _announced the CEO. "_Have you ever wondered how the lifestyle with Pokémon battling could ever improve much further than today, even though we already have Mega Evolutions, Super Training, the Pokémon Bank, contests, and Pokémon-Amie? What if you used Pokéballs that heals the pets, enhance the powers and the leveling process speed of your Pokémon, and have a far higher catch rate? What if they are extra affordable, indestructible, reusable, safer, more secure, and half the size? And what if you can actually carry up to twelve pets at once, compared to those you use, for the first time ever?"_

The new eyeball-like device was then displayed on the giant screen behind the chief executive._ "May I introduce to you trainers the most powerful Pokéball ever created; the iBall!"_

All of the Trainers applauded, followed by some whistling and squealing of excitement.

Before the trend, Trainers could only carry up to six Pokéballs with Pokémon inside due to a restricted code and limitations of the hardware of a satellite that controls the orbs. Not only that, the people also had to have their pets attack the wild Pokémon in order to catch them; otherwise, they would escape! And when they broke free, the items couldn't be used again! This had forced the folks to have as much of them as possible, costing them money.

Since the iBall was released, it changed all of the limits, thanks to their special codes and more capable hardware. Since Trainers could now store more Pokemon, they invented a new type of battle, called a "Party Battle", which ranged from 7 vs 7 to 12 vs 12, with up to 24 Pokemon on the field at once, with just two individuals. In addition to the fact that holding more pets required more management, the trainers had to think more tactically during the duels. And more, wild Pokemon were instantly caught without a need for a battle, regardless of health or condition.

The item also led to the debt of special classes of which Trainers often send the Pokemon to teach them the tactics necessary for the Party Battles; they learned how to hide in obstacles for safety, survive harsh conditions, recognize management, rotate roles, and most of all, fight corporately, similar to boot camp.

When Dr. Baron was reading the newspaper about the new item, he started to lose it and tore the article up in shreds, with paranoia towards the benefits claimed. "I can't believe this. It seems that this is a certainly unhealthy scheme to gain more control over the Pokemon. What has the world gone to now!? Do people think it's alright to hurt more of them just for the sake of pleasure when the smaller orbs look like they would suffocate the pets even further? For this reason, I must get to the bottom of this!"

He went to his laptop to send Dr. Hanson, Eric, Andrey, and Dr. Ebony, who were his researcher companions from various regions, a message to investigate the Trainers using the iBalls. It said:

_"Attention, all examiners contributing to PET PIKA! This is Dr. Baron sending an important message. There have been Trainers using a new type a Pokéball in which they now can abuse up to twelve Pokemon…Please keep an eye on those 'dictators' and bring me some evidence against the new trend so we can find a way to end Pokemon battling once and for ALL. Tension is rising as we know it."_

As a result, they followed his orders and by recording with their spy pens. They observed all of the kids who were using the new devices. Since they could carry up to 12 Pokemon, they have been putting to them to those tactic horde battles. This, however, was not the only change. Much to the shock of the detectives, there have been special tournaments contributing to the duels and the enhanced strengths of the pets. And while they were stronger than before, the Pokemon became more aggressive, as they eventually seemed to be more willing to attack one another, in a potentially fatal manner. Furthermore, it seemed if the Trainers became demanding to the animals, with all of the tight orders like if it was boot camp.

"This new lifestyle is an outrage," said Dr. Hanson, who was at the Johto region. "It's clear that those Trainers are taking over!"

"Back then, I used to see two Pokemon in a battle, such as a Blaziken and a Metagross," added Eric, located at Hoenn, "but now either it's eight Electric types, ten Dragon types, or 12 of various types!"

"How many Pokemon will those Trainers enslave?" groaned Andrey, at the Sinnoh region. "I know that humanity is degrading even more, as we know it."

"I think now's the time to sue that Lafayette," suggested Dr. Ebony, at the Unova region. "But first, we'll have to get to Dr. Baron."

Through email, the acquaintances delivered the photos and notes to their Dr. Baron who in then came to the see Doug the lawyer, who was doing his paperwork in his office.

"What appears to be the trouble?" Doug asked with concern. "You look kind of distressed."

"Frankly, the world itself," barked the psychologist/researcher. "I've been taking research regarding the ownership of Pokémon. I know that those creatures have made lives easier, but everyone has been depending on them too much, meaning that they can't be free nor can the people be independent.

"Like my sister, I have not focused too much on the relationship between trainers and Pokémon, Dr. Baron. Just to let know, I came from a region where there is no battling and only our independence, so I haven't owned a "pocket monster" for my whole life."

"Well, it's a good thing you do not!" interrupted Dr. Baron, banging the table. "Because do you call trapping animals in spherical cages called Pokéballs "bonding"? Do you call commanding them "bonding"? And do you call teaching them violence and power hunger for a battle "bonding"? Just think about it and do something about it! Those Pokémon need to have more freedom and rights while the trainers must realize that they are capable of living independently if they want to prove why we humans alone exist!"

The lawyer froze. "Perhaps you can show me the evidence why a part of our lives of owning the species must be stopped."

Dr. B quietly displayed the lawyer his companion's photos of the Pokémon either fighting or seen wounded after the new battling system, as well as their undiscovered documents with stout evidence of emotional "side effects" of fighting. "To make the situation worse, they have been using a new type of Pokeball, called the iBall, which allows to them to control more Pokemon than ever before."

Doug looked closer at the pictures of the trainers holding the metallic orbs. "I have never seen these kinds of items before. Thank you for sharing this. If you weren't here, I wouldn't know much of this since I was so busy lately. But now that I know that this is urgent, I will find a way to end this."

Dr. Baron returned to headquarters to warn the president about the rise of the iBall. "President Inga, there has been a new trend in this society! Without listening to us at all, the RevoEvolution Company made the society even more corrupt since they created a new Pokeball, called the iBall, so that Trainers would control more Pokemon, which could possibly lead to war if it keeps up!"

At first, the lady kept thinking about the Zoura she met, but when she heard from the researcher that was when she became sentient. "…Well, I can't believe this. After all we have been through, we still have a lot to do."

For this reason, PET PIKA decided to make a huge campaign against the new Pokéballs; first, they entered a small studio, where they were to hire an artist known for making propaganda against the villainous teams who used to terrorize the regions. He was a beagle-like Smeargle whose name was Seamus.

"I hope you're not too busy, Seamus," said Inga, looking a little worried. "As you can see, we would like you to take on a special mission."

"Smeargle? (What kind of mission?)" he asked.

"This is about how the trainers become more dependent on their Pokemon, especially with the new iBall making the pets mentally unstable. Could you please consider working on the billboards for a campaign against this evolution of battling?" She then showed the Pokemon some disturbing ad posters based on the topic.

One of them depicted a sickly Pikachu completely squished inside the orb "depriving" its oxygen even more, with its smaller size, whereas another portrayed twelve extremely aggressive, glowing trainers in Pokemon costumes fighting to death in a large case representing the side effects of the item. Seamus couldn't believe his eyes. He knew that in order to stop the trend, he was to put a twist on the posters, in order to make them even more convincing.

And indeed the Painter Pokémon had. Some of the billboards showed a pile of iBalls with many Pokemon suffocating in them, based on the first small poster with the tortured Pikachu. Others displayed hundreds of costumed trainers fighting; indicating what would happen if future Pokeballs could carry even more then twelve pets and make them just as unstable. As the ads eventually became global, trainers in all regions took consideration and began to debate whether the iBall was a step in the wrong direction or not. Some of them believe that the pets only become aggressive during battles while becoming stronger, and that they claimed that they wouldn't have to take turns anymore, whereas others realized that they didn't pay enough attention to the Pokemon, in which they decided to use the old Pokeballs to catch and store the creatures, out of safety concerns. The problem was, however, that production of the red and white item has been discontinued ever since the smaller orb's high sales put the company that made the originals out of business.

A while before the event, there were some trainers that never used the orbs. An example involved the kids from the Kalos region, especially Serena and Adeline, who were desperate to keep the creatures as safe as possible. After the day of the new item's release, the group didn't like the idea of carrying more Pokemon, since they stayed true to an old rule that only up to six are meant to be carried. Plus, they preferred to use strategy with one select creature or two, instead tactics with a dozen.

"This is a bit too much," said Adeline, watching an iBall accolades commercial on television. "While it may seem nice to have a bigger party, it would also be more difficult to take care of that much Pokemon at once if you look at it."

"At least we have an option to carry just a few, Adeline," replied Serena. "But that's not all we have to worry about. There are also claims that the iBall enhances the powers of the Pokemon, although Calem warned us about the side effects, since his Gogoat became more aggressive during a battle, when he used the item to catch her. For that reason, there is no way we're going to take the risk of changing like everyone else."

"Does everyone else know about this?"

"VERY FEW trainers do, as a matter of fact. That leaves us to consider this question: if we were to use the iBalls, would the Pokemon eventually become aggressive and malevolent enough to hurt all of us human beings with full will?"

After Seamus the Smeargle took care of the billboards, PET PIKA decided to take some large steps further, unlike before, in which it was only posters and fundraisers. This time, it was a number of protest performances attracting hundreds of trainers. The first one involved an outdoor boxing match with two teams of its members portrayed as bandaged Pokemon fighting against each other in a "brutal" manner; this represented the Party Battles that resulted from the new item's debut.

"That's right, everyone!" yelled one of the boxers, dressed up as a Scizor. "Your evil _eyeballs_ turned us all us all into monsters, therefore, we're all fighting not until we faint, but until we fade away!"

The second performance involved the costumed members being trapped in giant glass replicas of the iBall, and later, the third consisted of them walking in chains while holding signs that said "Free the Pokemon". Consequently, on TV, there was a news report regarding the publicity stunts set up by the group in the Hoenn region.

_"Good morning, viewers!"_ the reporter greeted the viewers. _"This is Gabby, reporting live on television. Here, we have some of the members of PET PIKA, similarly defaming the practice of Pokemon battling, but this time, with a giant step further. To be more exact, they have been performing in a derogatory manner towards the new system of the latest creation, the iBall." She then asked one of them, "Say, what is your name?"_

The member responded, _"My name is Isabella."_

_"So, Isabella, would you be happy to explain exactly why are you doing all of this?"_

_"We want all trainers to realize how much those Pokemon suffer from battling, where they no longer fight to win, but to death. What they don't know is, with those new iBalls, they are letting them become hyper-aggressive monsters and that we have to put an end to this madness by speaking up for ourselves, in our humble foundation._

_"That's not all, is it?"_

_"Not a chance. In addition, with the help of their lawyer, named Doug, President Inga and Dr. Baron are planning to sue Devrim Lafayette of RevoEvolution, for creating that cruel product that has further corrupted the already-scarred harmony between the pets and us. Furthermore, it may be possible that we'll be able to have battling outlawed for good, if we win this lawsuit."_

**Chapter 6 – The Trial**

Meanwhile, Dr. Baron privately called Lafayette, in concern of the consequences of his invention. He was angrier than a rabid Charizard at worst, and his voice was more powerful than an Alakazam at best.

_"Are you the person who invented the iBall?"_

_"Yes, though I did get some help from some of my partners."_

_"Can you hear my thriving voice and ask yourself this: What kind of monster are YOU!? Are you one who is just being SENSELESS, or one who learns from every criminal organization, like Team Rocket, or Team Magma and Aqua, to be POWER-HUNGRY, UNCIVILIZED and DOWNRIGHT IMMORAL!? What you and those EVIL PEOPLE OF YOURS DO NOT REALIZE THAT YOUR CRAZY INVENTION JUST MADE THE BATTLING DILEMMA EVEN FAR WORSE THAN IT USED TO BE IN THE FIRST PLACE! With the claims of powering up Pokemon and "improving" the system, how do they mean anything when you eventually turn them all into PSYCHOTIC, MINDLESS KILLING MACHINES, BASED ON OUR OBSERVATIONS FOR THE LAST SIX MONTHS!? DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND THAT ALL POKEMON ARE NEVER OURS TO CONTROL, TORTURE, OR ABUSE IN ANY WAY OR ANY FORM!? FOR YOUR CRIME, MY FOUNDATION AND I WILL SUE YOU, AND THERE WILL BE A TRIAL WHERE JUSTICE WILL FINALLY CATCH YOU WITH YOUR OWN POKEBALL, AND DUMP YOU INTO A FIRE WHILE YOU ARE TRAPPED INSIDE! AFTER THIS, YOU AND YOUR HORRID COMPANY WILL NEVER, EVER MAKE A SINGLE PENNY, NOR TOUCH ONE SHORT HAIR OF ANY INNOCENT POKEMON AGAIN!" _When finished with his shrill roar, Dr. B furiously banged the phone, so hard that he smashed it into pieces, and Lafayette was left so startled that he could not move a muscle.

On the next day, the trial began, with the name of the case entitled _PET PIKA v. RevoEvolution_. Each side had its own set of defenders, the staff members, Doug, and other lawyers for Inga's organization, and the employees for the targeted company. In addition, a horde of Officer Jennies, trainers from various regions, and their parents were there to add to the debate whether the item should or should not be banned.

"Everyone, rise," announced the bailif.

All of the people stood up for a short period of time.

"Case #1995 is now in session. You may be seated now."

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen," greeted the judge. "I am calling the case of Pokémon Ethic Troops of Picketers Independent from Keeping Animals versus RevoEvolution. Are both sides prepared?"

Doug replied, "Ready for PET PIKA, Your Honor."

"Ready for our company," added one of the teenage employees.

Then, the clerk proclaimed, "May the jury please stand up and make this oath?"

All stood up again.

"Do you all swear to be completely honest, nothing less, and that you will treat each of all others with reason and formality, so help you Arceus and the rest of the legendary Pokemon? If so, then say 'I do'."

"I do,"

"You may be seated."

Then, Doug, who was also the district attorney, came to see the CEO. "Lafayette, you made claims of the iBall enhancing the powers of Pokemon and expanding the capacity of how much Trainers could hold, is that correct?"

"Yes," he nodded.

"Well, PET PIKA had stated that your product also made the pets more aggressive and dangerous, as a side effect of its own technology." The DA then showed him the pictures of the unstable Pokemon, taken by Dr. Baron's companions. "Here, you see evidence of mentally corrupted pets next to the Trainers, each holding an iBall. These pictures were taken a while ago, but they should be a good start to suggest that you are guilty."

Then, one of the employees stood up and argued, "Perhaps you could take those photos with a grain of salt, because in our company, our scientists have performed extensive testing in the laboratory to ensure that the product is not to harm the Pokemon in any form. If anything, it is normal for the creatures to become tougher and more determined to win a battle, when they become faster and stronger. Therefore, RevoEvolution cannot be deemed as guilty."

"You speak with LIES!" barked Dr. Baron. "Can you not consider how the Pokemon really feel about being in those cages!? It is possible that they aren't becoming tougher because they want to win, it's because they are becoming more expressive of how they feel towards their trainers! Think about it, do they really need to become stronger when they were fine the way they were before their imprisonment in that wretched invention!?"

Inga asked politely, "Lafayette, perhaps you could show us the iBall, so we can examine it to see how it works?"

The CEO picked the orb from his pocket, enlarged it by pressing the pupils and showed it to the jury. "There is no Pokemon inside, just to insure you."

"Can you open it so we can see its internal?"

"As a way to enhance its security, it is programed to stay locked even when you push the button if it is empty. The orb only open when throwing it, when there is a creature inside."

"You aren't hiding anything, are you? Can we at least disassemble it?" said Zandro.

"Due to its unique parts, it will be intense to disassemble it, and doing so will mark the warranty void."

"Then how can we find out what the interior looks like?" asked Doug, feeling suspicious.

"Well, we do have the blueprints for the iBall. However, I don't have it with me at the time being."

"Where is it, then? Could it be in your office?"

"The specific location is classified, though we would like some time to go back and find the drawing-"

"Wait a minute!" interrupted Dr. Hanson, pointing at one of Lafayette's partners, who had the blueprints all along, much to the dismay of the CEO. "Do I not already see a blue scroll in a pocket of one of his crew? It looks like he's always prepared to bring as much evidence as he can."

The whole jury began to fill the courtroom with noise by questioning about the CEO's responsibilities.

"Order in the court!" she cried, stiffly hitting the block with his gravel. After silencing the crowd, she turned to the one who had the scroll. "Now that we have learned that you have them, could you reveal the blueprints, please?"

The partner slowly revealed to the jury the blue paper, which revealed the orb's interior design, as well as the parts inside themselves. Astonishingly, they appeared to be very alien, as no one seemed to understand how they worked.

"How the heck did you came up with this design?" one of the PET PIKA members asked the CEO. "At this rate, it will take weeks of research, maybe even months!"

The judge quietly shrugged, and responded, "If this is the case, I shall give the witnesses the time to examine the object until the cause of the Pokemon aggression is found. However, I will also have to deem the CEO innocent until proven guilty when we continue the trial." Then, after she adjourned the meeting, she hit the block for one last time.


	5. Part 5

**Chapter 7 – The Incident of a Mega Aerodactyl**

Sometime after the first trial, Dr. Baron and his companions carefully examined the blueprints in the headquarters, comparing the unfamiliar components with the recognizable parts in the blueprint for the original Pokeball, such as the disc and iron base. Then, Baron brought a few technological engineering books from the shelf in his office and slowly turned page by page, hoping for clues.

"…Solar battery, respirator, yada, yada, yada…" Doc B muttered quietly, staring at the illustrated systems. "Hmph, three hours, and we still can't find what similarities the iBall's parts may share. By the looks of it, it's possible that the only way to figure out how the orb works is to get the developers to provide an explanation." His voice then rose, "However, it's very likely that they would not bear to tell us as they made it clear that they want to keep every single thing CLASSIFIED!" Frustrated, he aggressively cleared the table, dragging every book to the ground. "It's no use. We'll never prove that criminal Lafayette guilty."

"Perhaps we can, if we have hope," informed Inga, "though we shouldn't get too worked up about this."

Dr. B felt suspicious, "You seem a little less concerned than usual. Lately, you haven't been too involved with our group, even though you are the president. Back then, every time we go somewhere, you were always come with us. Now, it appears if you are distracted. Why is that?"

"I had some errands to run, that's all." (The truth is, I kept going outside to play with the Zoura I met during the day of the survey.)

Sometime later, one trainer's Aerodactyl had gained all-out power after three weeks of staying in an iBall. However, he was not just aggressive enough to potentially exterminate another Pokemon during a battle, but he also seemed to be more expressive towards its owner in which he was trying to say that he hated taking orders from him, even though that person won badges to earn his loyalty. To make matters worse, during a Mega Evolution, the revamped prehistoric creature's aggression intensified, in which he not only tried to attack its opponent, but also everyone else outside the arena, especially his owner who was eventually presumed to be mauled in an unknown area, based on recent reports.

After the incident, Dr. Baron received a letter from the Pokemon Rangers from the Ranger Union.

"_Dear Doctor Sandy Baron," _read the researcher, _"We would like to invite you to a special mission, which will involve investigation of the now-prohibited Pokémon Stadium where the Mega Aerodactyl turned into a ruthless killing machine. On our evaluation of the incident, we have a theory that as the Pokemon are kept inside the iBalls, some strange form of energy eventually turns them so dangerous that they would defy the trainers completely and permanently and kill hundreds of individuals around, based on our comparisons to certain history. 60 years ago, a scientist created an extremely radioactive element called Vengeium, which was eventually fused into a serum that was used to power up the Pokémon of his liking. Consequently, they transformed into giant mutant monsters, and when put to a Mega Evolution, they become even deadlier until they disappeared. I assume that RevoEvolution somehow recreated the element and implanted in the orbs, but so far, our theory has not been proven. However, if you can help us solve this mystery and open up the iBall, this may help your stance for the trial on a grand scale."_

The researcher immediately came to see the rangers, who managed to capture the rabid prehistoric Pokemon with their Capture Stylers, though he doesn't seem to be tamed at all. It roared furiously at Baron, causing the hundreds of bystanders to scream. Stunningly, it was glowing as bright as a light bulb, _foreshadowing worse news later on_.

"Aren't your gadgets supposed to calm that beast!?" yelled Baron, with his two hands on his head.

Ben, one of the troops, replied, "Well, thanks to the orb's side effects, our Stylers couldn't control him, but at least everyone should be safe from him since they're now designed to a form a barrier around him."

"Perhaps we should give that monster a check-up and find out if some powerful energy really is affecting him."

"And what about the iBall, Dr. Baron?" asked Rand, another ranger. "Have you managed to open it? After all, there's no law against product disassembly."

"Not a chance. I've tried screwdrivers, knives, and even a blowtorch. As a result, it looked good as unharmed. Not only that it's secure, but it's also virtually indestructible if you look at it."

"Hmm, maybe there needs to be a Pokémon inside in order to see the interior and how it works; then again, when releasing that creature, the orb immediately closes in which it would be difficult to take an instant picture of it opening up. Now if only if we could convince the creators to unlock it…"

Baron shrugged with hopelessness. "No, RevoEvolution secures everything. So why the heck would you think that?"

After some careful thinking, Ben suggested, "I have an idea. What if we put a small camcorder onto a Pokemon that was in an iBall so that when it goes in along with it so that the inside of the orb will be recorded? It's just a thought."

"Of course!" exclaimed Doc Baron, astonished. "Why didn't we think of that earlier?"

"Maybe it's because we were thinking the extreme rather than the simple logic," replied Rand. "However, is there anyone we know who uses those orbs?"

"Well," responded Ben, "One of my old friends, named Calem, used an iBall on a Gogoat. If we assign him to attach the video camera to the unstable Pokemon though, it would be very dangerous. For this reason, I would have to fly to Kalos to help him."

"Fly with what, Ben?" asked Dr. B, feeling suspicious. "Could it be a weary Flygon or a constantly constrained Dragonite who would rather fly free? I am an activist speaking for the Pokemon, and I say they have their rights."

Sweating his skin out, the ranger nervously answered, "…With a plane, I guess."

After the talk, Ben brought his wristwatch-like Pokégear and used it to call his friend. "Hello? Calem? Are you there?"

_"Ben! Long time no see! I remember when you tried to stop those Pokémon Pinchers and met that ukulele-playing Pichu in an island. I bet it was no picnic."_

"Yeah, that wasn't easy, but I managed to defeat those thieves and rescued all the Pokemon at the end."

_"Now, is there anything I can do for you, pal?"_

"There is. I am wondering if you would allow me to put a wearable camcorder on your Gogoat, in order to record the inside of the iBall you're using. I'll be extra careful."

_"Can you meet me at Pomace Mountain?"_

Later, the ranger went to the hangar near the Union, where he stored his old yellow airplane. But before this, his Pidgeot came to see him and squawked, asking if it could fly him instead.

"Where must I take you now, Master Ben?" it spoke in his perspective.

"Not this time, Pidgeot. I got to use my old plane to fly to Kalos as a way to make one very strict activist researcher happy."

"Huh? So you'd rather use that ancient rust bucket and emit carbon dioxide in the atmosphere than to save gas by leaving the soaring to me?"

Ben sweltered again. "It's for a good cause." Then, he got in the plane and flew with a speed no faster than a Wingull for a few hours. During the trip, he noticed some other aircraft with the surreal anti-iBall advertisements from PET PIKA attached to their tails. "Wow, I never realized how desperate PET PIKA is." Eventually, he got to his destination, landed on the grass at Pomace Mountain where he saw a large orange tent with the name "iBall Club" written on the top front. Out of curiosity, he decided to get inside and see what was going in there.

"Wait, who invited you in this clubhouse?" asked the young president, angrily marching. "Only members can come here."

Ben scratched his back with anxiety. "Sorry about that. I only wanted to know what was going on here, considering how you seem the support the iBall, despite the controversy."

"Well, we are a very competitive group with a goal of making our Pokemon the most powerful of all, which is how we become true masters. In this place, we train our pets like they're our soldiers and brainstorm mind-boggling techniques to push their potential even further. If you dare to challenge us in a battle, we promise that they will show your Pokémon no mercy. And in case you were wondering, Darrick's the name."

"Ben's mine, and I'm not here for a battle. You see, Darrick, I came to this region to look for a friend. He told me that we would meet in this area."

"Are you referring to Calem?" the president guessed. "Because you see, he is one of our members of the iBall Club. Liked his haircut."

"Well, then…"

Calem eventually arrived at the tent seeing the two chatting. "There you are, Ben! Now that we're both here, do you have a minute?"

He and the ranger went outside for a secret conversation. Ben went first and asked with unease, "So Darrick told you that you were part of the iBall Club. I really do hope you know what you are doing because-"

"To tell you the truth, I only signed up because I wanted to find out some of their secrets which really caught my attention. Get closer and I will tell you in a nutshell." With the ranger obeying, Calem whispered to his ear, _"He and his contributors revealed that they were the ONES who originally designed the iBall. And for that, RevoEvolution paid them in order to revamp their product and publish it. Thus, they now live in that private tent to hide in case they get caught and be charged for 'criminal activity'."_

"I'm shocked. But why?"

"Well, there's too much to say, so I will tell you more after the footage involving the camcorder on my Gogoat recording the iBall's interior."

And so they did…well, eventually. Ben got a tight hold of the goat-like Grass-type whereas Calem had some difficulties getting him to put on the device, due to his abnormal hostility and the lack of cooperation.

"Come on, Gogoat, we're not here to hurt you!" exclaimed the trainer, clasping. "Perhaps if you could calm down and let us put on the camera on you, we could find out what's causing your discomfort…" His voice then broke. "…and find a cure for you because I want to help."

The Gogoat finally stood still and wore the video camera, as advised. Next, he returned to his iBall, in which the two boys finally managed to see the interior via the video on Ben's Pokegear. Inside, it was revealed that the alien parts have a purpose of emitting some strange green radioactive steam to power up the goat.

"So that's how the interior works," said Calem. "The question is, why are we seeing some green vapor surrounding my Gogoat."

"It can't be…but it looks like our theory must be proven true," replied Ben. "It looks a vaporized form of the recreation of the controversial Vengeium, which was made by that crazed scientist years ago. Also, it's what we call "Vengeium 2.0" since it has no official name."

"Do you know what it does, in detail?"

"Well, we were lucky to receive a sample of the new element, and according to some testing, it makes the Pokemon more than ten times stronger and increasingly belligerent, as we already know." Then, his eyes widened and his jaw dropped. "…But based on our recent mathematics, there will be FAR WORSE! If they spend a year being exposed by the neo-Vengium gas, they'll eventually EXPLODE like atomic bombs, which is possibly what happened the scientist's creatures! Luckily, we still have around half a year to turn this around, but first, we have to spread the word about all we have found."

After making the footage, they discussed to the club regarding the infamous side effect of the aggression of the Pokemon throughout their stay in the orbs. At first, they strongly refused to believe them, so they defended the product, citing that the creatures only wanting to fight more, with their powers enhanced.

"Guys, haven't you realized that PET PIKA is boycotting your item throughout the whole Pokémon World, which is why Lafayette of RevoEvolution is put to trial?" "Not only that, but I've also seen incidents of the creatures attacking their trainers, particularly one when an Aerodactyl supposedly killed his owner!"

"Where's the proof that our iBall is the main cause of the situation?" asked the arrogant president, crossing his arms and smirking.

"Actually, it's possible that you have it, considering how you made the eyeball-like thingamajig," said Ben.

"You may have learned that, but we're not telling anyone anymore secrets." Darrick pointed at him. "Expose us, and you're history."

"Don't worry, we won't be exposing any one of you. Instead, you will, once we show you, PET PIKA, and the court what your eyeball-like device does." After showing the club the video, he tells the president, "Just think about whether making the orb you made is right or wrong."

On the next day, Ben took Calem to the Kanto region to meet Inga and Dr. Baron again at the courthouse, in order to show them his Gogoat. As for the iBall Club, they have finally considered the dire consequences, so they decided to join the two and face the second trial which continued the fight between PET PIKA and RevoEvolution. After Lafayette's last argument defending the iBall…

"Your honor," Ben exclaimed to the judge, "We have finally discovered what the inside of the iBall really does, which the CEO doesn't want you to know." He then asked Doug the lawyer, "Is there a projector or TV around? I want to show everyone some footage."

"Well, I do have my projector, which you may use," answered Inga, bringing it out from her briefcase.

"Thank you." The ranger took it and connected it with his Pokegear.

"Strange," said Lafayette, "I thought I made a good final argument regarding how Pokémon naturally become tougher after training as well as the health benefits of living in the iBalls."

Then, the projector showed the video of the orbs' internals emanating the green Vengeium steam irradiating Calem's Gogoat, shocking the jury.

"Does any recognize what's given to my Mount Pokémon?" questioned Calem.

"Could it be Vengeium 2.0 perhaps?" answered Inga. "We all know that the unstable element itself was outlawed for various reasons. One of them is because the energy from them eventually blow up violently, indicating that with a consistent, everyday exposure, the creatures would keep becoming more aggressive until they explode after one year, as theorized."

The whole jury began to panic, followed by some screaming and asking urgent questions regarding when their Pokémon will blow up.

"Order! Order in the court!" cried the judge banging with her mallet. "Remain calm, I am confident that there will be a way to fix this crisis."

"You know, we have a confession to make," Darrick spoke up. "I'm too afraid to say this, but we were the ones who created Vengeium 2.0 and the iBall."

The people gasped for one last time.

"We attempted to improve the original formula to make it more powerful and safer, but we're not sure if we succeeded in making it less dangerous."

Calem released his aggressive Gogoat out of his iBall, with Ben using his Capture Styler to confine him. "As a way to answer Darrick's question, in addition to his belligerence, this Grass-type is beginning to glow after when staying in the item for so long. This doesn't look like it's a good sign, is it?"

"No," replied Darrick.

"And as for the Aerodactyl," added Ben, "Have we noticed that it was glowing as well? It could be because he was getting closer to his own ignition, since he was the first Pokémon to live in the orb. In fact, it may be possible that the trainer who owned him was one of the members of the iBall Club."

"You mean, Eddie?"

Baron added more, "…Sadly, yes, in which he was probably killed for his irresponsibility, similar to how you use those objects without consideration." He then brought a rulebook. "One last thing: According to this old book, it says that on purpose, all trainers can only carry up to six Pokémon for the reason of management issues if otherwise. So for the last months, everyone had been breaking this kind of law!"

"Your honor," said Doug, "Those two boys have proven a very strong point against the subject business and that the iBall must be outlawed. What is your verdict?"

"This can only mean one thing," responded the judge, "I find RevoEvolution guilty for producing devices with illegal components and committing a major law violation. PET PIKA has gained favor in this trial!" She hit the gravel for one last time. "This court is adjourned."

While the PET PIKA members cheered, RevoEvolution was charged and the iBall Club members were sent to custody where they would hear their penalty.

**Chapter 8 – Gotta Free 'Em All**

After the trial, all of the Pokémon were released from their iBalls, which were all confiscated by the Officer Jennies around the world. Moreover, the pets, including the Aerodactyl, were sent to Pokémon centers where they were put to a special process removing the freak radiation that had affected them. In addition, the iBall Club members were sent back to Kalos where they were sentenced to community service. Furthermore, the Pokémon Rangers returned to the Union whereas Ben took Calem home. As for RevoEvolution, hundreds of jobs were cut, in which the company was limited to producing screened electronic devices for the trainers.

On the following day, as other rulers of other regions have done the same, the mayor of Saffron City had made a special announcement at the town hall, recorded live worldwide (which soon turned out to be an opportunity for PET PIKA to spread their latest word). "From this day forward, all Trainers will begin using the old red and white Pokéballs again, as the old industries that made them will be put to production once more. This is better for the safety of the creatures as well as yours."

Suddenly, President Inga and Dr. Baron marched to the front and took over the mayor's spot for which they wanted to make a special speech. The researcher went first. "Honestly, I don't think it does enough justice to send the Pokémon back to the 'safer' orbs of red and white, which are really just as uncomfortable, if you look at it. First off, you know what's wrong with this pathetic society? Secondly, have you noticed how expressive some of the pets have become about battling, after being affected by those iBalls? In those hospitals, we've learned that what they were simply trying to tell you is that you keep relying on them all the time, like you need your mother to spoon-feed you all the time like you're all children, or even babies! The reason we did a survey is because we were all trying to understand you and did our best to get you to change out of consideration of the poor Pokémon, whose feelings are often ignored, though you keep telling yourselves that battling is a "main part of your blood"! It turns out, this world is a dystopia! A ridiculous, filthy, surreal, stinking dystopia!"

"Let's consider the facts," added Inga with a quiet tone. "Kids send their Pokémon to violent, ill-mannered, and unruly duels for the sake of money and entertainment. They all dream of becoming Pokémon Masters, but what for? Just to let you know, it's even worse than how it sounds. If you were doctors, you learn how it ends up with the pets fainting and even receiving enlarged anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and depression when it comes to fighting."

Not one trainer said a word.

Baron continued, "Do you know that you all share a tradition of traveling to dangerous places, even though you're all not considered old enough to survive walking miles of various landscapes? And this is because you want to abandon your parents because they have been "holding you back". In reality, they wanted to protect you from being attacked by wild Pokémon you want to battle or end up homesick! Now let's get into detail where you and those weird clones of Nurse Joys and Officer Jennies treat those pets like mindless slaves. You know how you always make them do a whole bunch of stuff like medical care, transportation, cooking, law enforcement, labor, _et cetra_, all what we HUMANS can do so easily! And what do they get in return? Nothing. As for all of you, you take all of the pay you want! Seriously, why can't you be as productive, too?"

When all of the employed Pokémon (including the Chanseys, Audinoes, and Wigglytuffs that helped the Nurse Joys and the Eletric-types proving energy resources) were watching the speech on television, they stopped working and began to wonder why they had a purpose to obey their owners in the first place.

"In addition, you love to take advantage of all of your techs used for pounding the heck out of the pocket monsters, just so you can make them your puppets. We don't get it. There are those that benefit you, of course, but why can't there some that help them? And for those Pokéballs, do you know what's it like to be digitally shrunk down inside until they're the size of your hand? It ought to be painful at best!"

"Furthermore," said Inga calmly, "It looks the Pokémon Champions are the ones in charge of the regions, rather than the government itself. Consider it another reason why your lifestyle is centered on dueling. Consequently, when real jobs aren't considered, the economy has gone downhill for which infrastructure and highways between towns aren't paid for, as well as other public goods.

"With all of this repetitive and insane garbage the Pokémon have to put up with, how can ANYONE possibly assume that we're all living happily ever after!? You say that they are given special consideration, and yet, the animals have to give up their liberty to battle, only to get more serious punishment than reward! It's like if all you ever do is battle 'this', battle 'that', BATTLE 'EVERYTHING'!" Baron took a few deep breaths and continued, "And if there is one Pokémon hearing from me, I say we've had enough of this! It's time to put our feet down and fight not for the Trainers, but for freedom!"

In the town hall, most the Pokémon have understood the speech and so they quietly backed away their Trainers; those that were in the Pokéballs got out and did the same. Then, they began to chant for their independence, in which the human beings were shocked about what they were doing, until they eventually got Dr. Baron and Inga's point of the society proving to be exceptionally flawed.

After the meeting, all the pets around the world rebelled against the battling traditions and their lifestyles with their owners, though in a non-violent way since they still followed some code of behavior. In response of the global strike, PET PIKA called for a new law against battling, through massive singing parades in every town and city in every region, with hundreds of members, other non-trainers, and bipedal Pokémon holding signs supporting the creatures' liberty. For example, in Viridian City:

_"We haven't been the very best,"_ sang one PET PIKA member.

_"Unlike someone always was,"_ repeated the rest.

_"To free_ _them is our real test,"_

_"To love them is our cause."_

In Goldenrod City of Johto:

_Must spread the word across the land,_

_'No boundaries far and wide',_

_All trainers must understand,_

_May duels be put aside!_

All parades in the Pokémon World together:

_Pokémon! (Gotta FREE 'em all), it's us and me_

_We know it's our destiny_

_(Pokémon!)_

_To-o-o break all the chains,_

_For a world that's free from pain,_

_Pokémon (Gotta free 'em all), a heart so true,_

_Determine what's right and what's wrong,_

_They have been ours for far too long,_

_Po-ké-mon!_

_(Gotta free 'em all!)_

_Gotta free 'em all!_

_Pokémon!_

Ultimately, these actions motivated the Pokémon League to shut itself down for good, now that there were certain new laws throughout every region. Every type of Pokeball became entirely forbidden. Gym leaders were taken away their jobs of testing Trainers. The Pokémon Federation condemned their gyms (Reactions included how Roxanne, the Rock-Loving Honors Student of Hoenn, started sobbing teary-eyed and begged the guards to leave her rocky-terrained field and the part where a Dragon-type Trainer named Iris raved at them for what they were doing). Fighting strategies turned illegal. Other catching equipment ceased to exist in the market. And particularly, all the released Pokémon were exempted from having to battle or even obey their owners ever again.

In addition, PET PIKA promoted a special lifetime vacation at a faraway land called PokéPark, where all of the domesticated Pokémon would more happily live their new homes by coming up with activities themselves or enjoying the nature's resources, such as the large quantity of berries and water. But before sending them away, all of their Trainers each made their last, surprisingly distressing and tear-jerking good-byes.

For example, in Hoenn, May (from Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald and ORAS) ruefully gave purplish-pink ribbons to her chicken-like Blaziken, along with her butterfly-like Beautifly, cat-esque Skitty, and her other pets. Then, she sniffled, "…Hopefully, with these ribbons, we'll be able to remember each other and the good memories we all had, whether it's all of those Pokémon Contests or our journey with a _great kid from Pallet Town… _No worries, we'll all be together in our hearts…right?_"_

"I highly doubt it will be enough, my dear May," lamented the Blaziken in its perspective. "And don't get me started with the time when I earned more attention after that Beautifly overshadowed me."

"Well, it's still beyond my control that I tend to be so beautiful!" replied the butterfly.

"Put a cork in it, you show-off for a Bug-type."

As a second example, at an airport in Unova, Nate and Rosa (From BW2), plus Hilbert and Hilda (From BW), brought their Pokémon farewell gifts; they consisted of a tin of buttery cookies, a Hoothoot-inspired watch to tell time during their vacation, and small paintings based the pets themselves.

Before letting the creatures head to the airplane however, Hilda ran to her long-beloved Oshawott to give her a last, long and tight hug, out of her unexpected oversensitivity. "…Look, _Olivia, _I promised to myself to always be the strong and hard-as-nails tomboy I am." Her voice broke, "…But…as…soon…as…I learn that we won't be seeing each other for a long time, I just can't stay too committed…I'm sorry…" Suddenly, she began to burst into a river of tears…literally! She bawled, "_WAAHH! I WISH THIS WOULD NEVER HAPPEN, SO WE COULD TOGETHER FOREVE-R-R-R!"_

"Oh, brother!" groaned Nate, shrugging. "If you thought her sweet-eating habits were bad enough, this isn't like her to go crybaby like this! But what can I say?"

"Well, it has been more than two years since we've been together with all of our Pokémon, so don't mind her," responded Hilbert. "Speaking of being together… Do you remember the time when the Pokémon helped us stop Team Plasma, who tried to separate them and us humans?" Unpredictably, he began to reconsider. "…Wait a minute, what if they had a point that we have been relying on them too much and that most of the time, we battle? Maybe we should've listened to PET PIKA and considered being more productive a long time ago, as I do feel a bit impractical today…"

Meanwhile, Rosa patted the tear-spouting tomboy on the back and spoke in a soft voice, "There, there. Just let it all out…"

For the last example, in Kalos, Serena, Adeline, and their companions ran an outdoor party for their Pokémon, which involved lots of silliness and laughter. For the most part, they all were playing confetti-emitting party poppers, loud party horns, and considerably messy string guns. Later…

"Time for dessert!" Serena exclaimed to the pets while bringing the cupcake-like food. "I made some Poképuffs enough for all of you! Since you will all be leaving soon, I decided to make them extra special. For example, it's flowers on top for you, Flabébé, autumn leaves for you, Delphox, and stars for you, Gogoat, now that you've recovered!"

"Thank you," replied Gogoat through its perspective after eating his "Supreme Honor".

"We really will miss your Poképuffs by the time we head to PokéPark, Serena," lamented Delphox, munching on her "Supreme Autumn". "Because there is no one who makes them better than you, not even that _Miette_ perhaps."

After the party ended, the trainers made their goodbyes with grief, with the Pokémon waving simultaneously in their plane. For instance:

"…Delphox, I will never forget the time when you were younger, you along with Pancham helped me fulfill my dreams as Kalos Queen, and Pangoro, I hope you keep those _sunglasses _to remember the first time we met, when you begged to be a performer," sniffled Serena, wiping her eyes with a handkerchief. "As they only happen once, every memory counts, especially during the journey with _a childhood friend I fell in love with_. Good-bye, all my beloved friends."

"Though we had great memories together, like the time we played Frisbee, I do hope you will be happy staying at PokéPark, Percy," Adeline told her shiny Fennekin. Then, she turned around with her head down. "Perhaps that was for the best of life, but I don't even know why battling is part of our blood in the first place."

Around the world, the rest of the Trainers have felt the same feelings of sadness and despair when it came to sending off their pets to an unlimited vacation, after understanding the supposed irreverence of battling. As for PET PIKA, Inga and her members too felt guilty about such separation even though they have believed that they were doing the right thing. Gloom had not lasted forever, however…


	6. Part 6

**Chapter 9 – Regions Got Talent!**

Sometime after the Pokémon were sent away, the Trainers were now known as simply as "Citizens", as they no longer battled, but they finally got the opportunity to unleash their inner selves and become independent, amazing and talented stars. This had pleased PET PIKA, as there was more focus on the humans themselves, in which they supported almost everything. As for President Inga, after weeks of exploring some media about the potential of the Citizens, she had plans of making a documentary, and to begin, she decided to write about some certain individuals she would check out of her liking and even travel to see others and learn where they were on their road to fame.

The first subject she met was Brock, who finally fulfilled his dreams of being with the beautiful women he used to fail to win, now that he no longer had to worry about his Pokémon.

"Though you are no longer Kanto's Rock-type Gym Leader, how do you manage to make the most of life now?" she asked.

Brock spoke with enthusiasm, "Well, I can't believe I am saying this, I actually went on various dates at various restaurants, each with a different girl equally gorgeous whether it's a Nurse Joy, Officer Jenny, etc.! There were among the best moments of my life, but later, I wanted to go one step further so I decided to take female-centered careers. As a first, I became the host of a ladies' bus tour where he managed the female tourists in various ways; one of those days involved the location of Porta Vista."

In one of his memories…

_"Here, you lovely ladies and I can see the rich and beautiful trees full of coconuts and the blue ocean big enough for us to take a swim," he pointed out with enthusiasm. "I am telling you, you better got those swimsuits ready, once we head to our dream destination!"_

_The girls screamed with joy. Many of them responded, "We love you, Brock!"_

_"Don't mention it!" he sobbed out of happiness._

"Next, I ran a flashy dating game show on television; it was entitled "Date the Mate", where some young male contestants, otherwise known as bachelorettes, each had to answer one of three bachelors who are hidden from their observation and then go on a date with that lady for a week."

_"This is Da-a-a-ate the Ma-a-a-a-ate!" he exclaimed as the logo full of hearts showed up. After it disappeared, he continued, "I am your host, Brock, and please welcome our contestants of the week: Bachelor #1: Leaf, Bachelor #2: Lyra, and #3: Marina! First, let's talk to Leaf, who is described as 'curious but courageous'." He turned to #1. "So, tell us about your relationship with the boys."_

_Leaf gulped. "Oh my Arceus, I am just too shy to say. I guess most boys tend to be nice towards me…I don't know."_

A laugh track operated.

_"That's good enough for all of us." Brock pointed at door #1. Perhaps this bachelor would be a good fit for you."_

_Red showed up from the one of the doors that were hiding the boys. Feeling nervous, he simply waved. "Um, hello. Heh, heh."_

_Leaf's jaw dropped. "Red!? Are we really going to have this date?"_

"Overall, my show ended up with high ratings, with fans praising the humor and presentation. And by the way, I would to thank you and PET PIKA for writing a very positive, in-depth review for Date the Mate, citing that it was a great move to help the Citizens find a compelling companion to bond with, or get to know one another to understand more about their character! It had brought a tear in my eye when I read the whole thing!"

"Aww, don't mention it!"

To sum it up, when Brock had the freedom to put more time on romance-related carriers, he was living a dream that used to impossible to achieve, and that was to spend quality time with the girls. And the best part was, there was absolutely no ear-pulling trainer or a Pokemon to stop him at any single time. Still, is it possible that this could get out of hand in the future?

Then there were a few more interviews, whether it was Jasmine from Johto working as a metal artist designing odd objects based on Pokemon, May from Hoenn who become a world-famous soccer player and runner, or Dawn from Sinnoh working as a business owner for body care products. Sometime later, Inga traveled to Unova to meet Hilda, who became "The Hildevil 7000", an exceptionally popular daredevil who had been performing in glitzy circuses and later, critically acclaimed action movies.

"You must be Inga of PET PIKA hoping to for an interview from me," the tomboy informed.

"I've watch videos of you risking your life to catch everyone's attention, even if it meant enduring serious injuries. I'm sure your parents must be worried sick of you."

"And I always tell them, 'Life is no more dangerous than a Sawk knocking a tree, as long as the berry is kept spared, like a Throh withstanding a thousand arrows'. I know they trust me. Anyway, let's get back to the interview. Back then, I had acknowledged that since the day she sent her Pokémon away, I made one too many "river of tears" for almost every hour or two, every single day." She slowly gave a shrug with her palms up, with the president laughing in response.

Back then, Hilda told all of her friends, including Hilbert and Bianca, at her home, _"…I'm sorry for acting like a crybaby. Enough is enough, and crying won't bring my pets back, so for that reason, I can only accept the separation and move on."_

_"It's alright, budette," replied Bianca calmly. "We all know how hard it is to say goodbye to all of our__Pokémon."_

After some time of thinking, the tomboy had an idea. An idea so "brilliant" that it would knock her buddies' socks off. She spoke in an optimistic tone, _"But you know what? Just because life had changed doesn't mean that we don't still have a future to make the most out of! Therefore, I am considering of becoming…a stunt-performing, death-defying DAREDEVIL! How cool does that sound?"_

Hilbert's eyes popped, _"Wait, WHAT!? You can't be that crazy, all because you want to make up for our battling ban, right?"_

_"Wait and see,"_ she replied with a mischievous face.

Aside from the flashback…

"So what was your first stunt, Hilda?" Inga asked. "I'm curious."

"I organized my first public stunt to shoot myself out of some black and white checkered cannon (with the colors representing Zekrom and Reshiram) and soar through ten hoops covered in rampant flames before landing safely on a net. At first, I felt as if I would end up burnt, but with my hunger for excitement, I just had to turn myself into a flying cannonball and sucked in my gut to get through the raging fire of the metal rings without receiving a mark! In the end, I spun vertically to the net with safety, and all of the Citizens cheered for me louder than a prideful pride of Pyroar (lion-like Fire-types) roaring in a safari! She shaked her fists. "Yay me!"

"But the question is, why did you decide to be a stunt performer in first place?"

"It all started during the days of that dastardly Team Plasma, when _this tomboy_ (points at herself) imitated the stunts the Pokémon of Pokéstar Studios performed in the movies as I wanted to know what's it like to be them. One time at home, after watching an Infernape spy doing a split to slide down on the escalators in one film, I tried to do the same on the rails of the stairs." She began to frown. "Unfortunately, this backfired as I fell down, and my mother scolded me for that."

_"Ouch, my bad," she moaned, lying on the floor._

_"Sweetie, no more splits on the rods, please," cautioned her mother. "It's dangerous."_

"Nonetheless, I continued to practice my own stunts on my last journey during Kyurem's era, particularly jumping from a bridge to a train to a gap between two trucks where she performed a physics-defying "epic split". And applying to my last encounter with Team Plasma, there was a time when I managed to escape from one of their lairs by breaking through a window, sliding on a 30-story slope of the building on both legs and then clinging on a bus with a clothes hanger I took from one of the group's wardrobes."

"Overall, you have proven yourself as one of the greatest daredevils in Unova, _Hildevil 7000_."

The tomboy wiped a tear and sniffled, "If only if my Pokémon could see the same. Oh, no, I'm leaking again. My apologies."

"It's alright. Keep in mind that you did the right thing to take them to a peaceful and rewarding vacation. Anyway, what did you perform after the hoops?"

"Well, let's just say that I lived up to my first success by taking another whole bunch of risks: I set myself on fire while wearing a flame-proof nano-coating to go with my new trademark white suit with black stripes, drove a state-of-the-art monster truck at a flying arena and jumped over several burning cars without crushing them, zip-lined upside down at White Forest, stood on a flying airplane, and for the biggest stunt of all, I skydived from outer space while sword-fighting with my competitor named Trip!"

"That's amazing! Were you scared at all?"

The tomboy spoke in a very quick rate, "Are you kidding me? I have never been this alive since forever! From that day forward, I'm now part of Cirque du Solrock, where I continue to perform my tricks and break some legs in front of all of my fans! And to sweeten things up even more, Mr. Gold was SO impressed with my skydiving performance that he gave me an opportunity to work for Pokéstar Studios to become an actor in all of his action movies! How cool is that?"

"Very cool! You know, I will be looking forward to seeing your latest movie, 'The Crazy Holiday'. The first two trailers show a lot of promise."

Their conversation ended with the daredevil giving Inga an autographed postcard and afterwards receiving paparazzi from a predominantly massive horde of photographers who just arrived from…well, everywhere.

The last place Inga traveled to was Kalos, where she would interview Serena, the supposed guitarist who was last seen playing, at a stump months ago. However, the girl was nowhere to be seen; the president looked through every place in sight hoping for hints of her planning a concert or playing outside, but she was out of luck. In fact, when she asked all of the ex-Trainers for her location, each quietly told her that they have not seen her for weeks, although they informed her that she once proved herself a great guitarist full of energy while she was gone.

After a long time of searching, Inga finally found the girl lying down near a tree next to her home, with desolation.

"Hello, there," greeted the president outside the fence. "Remember me from our presentation a while ago?"

Though it took her some seconds, Serena replied calmly, "I remember you, Miss Inga."

"No need for the 'miss'."

Then, Adeline showed up and informed, "It's nice seeing you again, President, but keep in mind that Serena is really quiet now ever since her Pokémon were sent away. In fact, you can say that she's so _serene._ Anyway, at first, we felt a little skeptical about your group opposing Pokémon battling, but after you won the charge against RevoEvolution and helped Dr. Baron with his arguably harsh speech, we realized how much trouble we put on those pets."

"And what about the trouble?"

"Well, I would like to admit that you taught the two of us and every Trainer a valuable lesson regarding what we used to do for most of the time: Sometimes, instead of always giving to our pets commands, we need to be more purposeful to prove ourselves to achieve as much as them."

"That's right," Inga sighed. "It really is."

"Well, as president, you DID save the world, so I don't see why you can't look so glum, although we do miss having our Pokémon around. Nonetheless, we're finally following your guidelines and making the most of life without battling, as what you envisioned."

The president then remembered. "And speaking of making the most of life, little girl, how is Serena with her guitar playing skills? I was hoping to interview her for my documentary."

"I'll tell you, but can we please talk somewhere more private? Because I don't think it's the time for my cousin to hear this. The name's Adeline, by the way. I forgot to tell you that."

Adeline and Inga backed away from the girl next to the tree. Then, the younger cousin whispered mildly, "Before the ban of Pokémon battles, my cousinhad continued spending her free time playing the guitar, and as she had done so, her skills became increasingly better, thanks to the encouragement of her Delphox, Talonflame, the panda-like Pangoro, two-horned Rhyperior, and so on. When time was right, the first time she played "Me and My Fennekin" was near a fashion store at a mall, where dozens of people noticed her melodic and expressive voice and decided to clap to go with the rhythm of her first public song."

In detail, the girl decided to do some kind of dance to go with her playing and singing; it consisted of spinning her left arm and dramatically plucking the strings like she was mad, swinging the guitar like a monkey-like Pansage, bouncing like a pig-like Spoink, etc. and then ending with a stance. At first, the audience stood still looking at her considering how very few music players demonstrate such expressive showmanship, but later, they clapped and cheered louder and louder for every second.

_"Thank you so much for the praise, everyone!" _She squealed with a wide smile.

When acknowledging that they really loved her performance, Serena decided to play more of her songs; equally as acclaimed as the first, they all signaled her potential of fulfilling her new transition from being a Pokémon Performer to a world-famous guitarist.

However, after sending all of her Pokémon to the long vacation at PokéPark, her confidence and especially her personality have changed dramatically. She stopped practicing and writing songs as much as previously intended. Moreover, out of loneliness and writer's block, she had gotten quite lost, sensitive and depressed, like a quiet Slowpoke wandering in a forest on a rainy day. This was not to say that all was bad, however, as she eventually realized that without her pets, she recieved more time to practice in which she began to put her full effort again.

Sometime later, the girl was offered a promotion to work for a record label called "Pokéstar Records", a subsidiary company of Pokéstar Studios, so she could develop more songs, though less about Pokémon and more about the recent cultures, while the involvement of moral values remained. While the reception of her music gradually declined like a Phanpy (an elephant-like Ground-type) steadily rolling down a mountain, they were still as popular as they could get. Nonetheless, she preferred to stay in a quiet place alone to train and not speak to anyone or even to herself. During her breaks, she slouched more often, whether on a seat in a café or any soft ground, and took very slow strolls without any clear direction on where to go."

Inga responded, "If I was at the mall, Adeline, I would have done the same as the audience had been doing when she played all of those songs. However, I am also sorry that she had gotten a little lonely. While her pets are gone, is there anything I could do for her?"

Adeline sighed, "I'm not sure, considering how she now wants to be alone out of her acceptance of her 'incurable misery'."

**Chapter 10 – One Year Later**

One year has passed since the Citizens have moved on after sending their Pokémon to PokéPark. All of the regions now focused on the talents and occupations of the people with all of the news reports, talk shows, and such. As for the President's documentary she directed, _Humans Galore,_ it received a very positive reception from nearly every critic in the world, in contrast to the mixed reviews for her book _Monsters Free from Pockets and How Humans Alone Can Be Capable_. There were praises towards the vivid CGI effects on the presentation program, the deep messages about the human-Pokémon relationship, and especially its overall compelling depth and ambition on its storytelling. As a result, it became a massive box office success with tickets sold out every theater in every region.

If there was a problem however, it would be that daily life seemed to be partially empty or limited without the pets. The Citizens' careers became lonely and boring. Nurse Joys and the Professors lost their jobs with no creature to look after. And as a big one, most organizations like the Breeders, Connoisseurs and others that used to support the Pokémon were no longer needed since it was currently about humans, so they were all shut down likewise to the League, forcing the unemployed to look for new jobs unrelated to the pets. Still, life felt incomplete in which everyone looked down in the dumps no matter what they did and where they were.

The first example involved Red from Kanto having some problems with his community service program. On one meeting:

"Well, we're suffering from a streak of confidence-draining bad luck during volunteering, Red," complained Leaf. "In that gardening event, we couldn't keep the soil moist due to the limited amount of water coming from one hose. Not only that, in our fundraiser, due to the lacking presentation, there was barely any public interest in which we failed to meet the amount of currency needed to support a child adoption center as we only earned 1,000 Pokédollars! What can we do now?"

"I don't know, but remember when similar volunteer organizations performed much better before the ban? By the looks of it, we don't stand a chance working by ourselves, possibly because our beloved pets aren't there to help us.

As another example in Johto, a teenage boy from named Ethan had a career of engineering hoverboards for the contestants to use in a tournament. The problem was...

"Well, this is a bummer, particularly when I need electricity for the batteries. I would have been able to test the prototypes if I still have my trusty electric-type Jolteon to fuel the storage cells. Back then, aside from battling, he used to enjoy helping him provide his essence whenever there was a blackout at home or just when I needed to wake up."

For the third instance in Unova, Hilda, a.k.a. "Hildevil 7000", gradually grew tired of her stunt-focused job, despite all of the dangerous risks she took. During her recent days, all she did was lie in bed alone moaning. There were no movie-making, no Cirque du Solrock, nor anything else drawing attention.

"I knew that too much of a good thing could drain a great deal of my energy," she moaned. On the other hand, she used to make claims that she would never just give up, for which the main reason for her hiatus could have been her loneliness without the company of her favorite Pokémon including her Oshawott, Olivia.

In Kalos, the guitarist Serena was having her very first concert at a dome where Pokemon Showcases used to take place. By the looks of it, she had mixed feelings on whether to play or not. First off, she felt uncertain about the possible reactions of the critics just near the stage; either they would show affection or despise her performance and condemn her for good. There was the opportunity to prove her transition from a pet-dependent performer, but there was also her anxiety that would hamper her playing, regardless of how long she practiced her songs throughout the year.

The show was about to begin in three minutes and she still did not feel very good about it. However, she had no choice but to do her best. The first song she played and sang was "Me and My Fenneken".

President Inga and Dr. Baron came back to see the girl at the concert, as promised earlier. After hearing some of her songs from a radio, she believed that her performance would do well regardless of the anxiety she had to put through.

"Do you think she will be alright?" asked Baron.

The president responded confidently, "There is no way that she would slip up entirely, considering how she did her best to get her act together. It will be just fine, Dr. B."

Then, the song began:

_Once upon a time, there was a small yellow fox,_

_She was even cuter than a doll in a box._

_I remember when she loved to dress up in pink,_

_She always smiled which came with a wink…_

Sometime later, unexpectedly, Serena lost her voice and stopped singing. This was tragic, as a scratchy throat made it impossible for her to sing anymore, canceling the concert.

"No, no, NO!" scolded a heckler. "This must be the last nail in your coffin! I want you out of this stage now, you little twerp! O-U-T!"

"Yeah, you stink!" yelled another fan.

Then, nearly the whole audience started booing and throwing objects at the poor girl, who stood on her knees and began to burst into tears.

As for President Inga, she wasn't disgusted or angry, but rather, she felt a great deal of guilt, deeming her as one of the exceptions to the audience. While the lady did anticipate for the best, she had understood that the singer had her bad days throughout the year, especially with no one to encourage her.

On the next day, in her trailer, Serena turned into a shut-in, refused to let anyone inside, and spent all of her time alone weeping and coughing. Occasionally, she received encouragement letters from a few caring fans and her old friends as well as the lady president particularly, and little Adeline regularly visited to comfort her, but they were not enough to compensate for her major failure at the concert.


	7. Part 7

**Chapter 11 - A Old Friend Revisits**

In PET PIKA headquarters, after their celebration long ago, the whole crew began to shrink gradually as purpose became increasingly minimal aside from supporting careers. This had led the president to question whether she did the right thing or not.

"I don't get it," sighed Inga. I thought I made the world a better place now that we freed all the Pokémon. Why do we keep seeing everyone depressed?"

"I am starting to think that the people really enjoy being with their Pokémon," suggested Zandro. "But now that we 'won', they don't seem to be motivated when it comes to specializing themselves. As for our members, they have no real clue on what to do now, which is why a few of us left."

"At least the animals are now safe," informed Dr. Baron. "And what about Brock? He seemed to be happy being with the ladies."

"Yeah, about that… I've heard that Brock was no more than just a fad, in which his own novelty faded too quickly to the women, leaving room for a fresher man," sighed Zandro.

"Never mind Brock," added the president, "Kalos's once-top singer and my favorite idol, Serena, seemed to hit rock bottom at her concert; most of her "fans" blasted her just because a sore throat hampered her singing. Baron and I were there."

Zandro continued, "Some fans they turned out to be. You know, the stars aren't the only ones suffering from lifestyle decline. Maybe there's a problem that the Pokémon are 'safe', albeit too safe. What if they enjoyed battling with one another, and that we didn't dig deep enough on that? Furthermore, they might have made a huge impact on everyone."

Sometime later, someone rang the doorbell of the building. The president, in response, went to an elevator to go down to the entrance room and opened the door. Much as a surprise, it was N from Unova. "Long time, no see, Inga," he said.

"Would you like to come by for some tea?" the lady asked humbly.

"Why, of course." The green-haired man walked to the glass table and sat down on one of the sofas to wait. "Looks pretty lonely here."

Inga brought the teapot and ceramic cups. "I know this doesn't look much, but-"

N smiled. "No, no, this is good enough for me, since I got tired of fancy-schmancy treats long ago!" He then took his first sip. "Anyway, it's been over a year since you banned battling for good. And that's not all you banned."

"What do you mean, _Natural _(N's real name)?"

"Well, let's just say that you got your wish of everyone being talented and productive, completely independent from living with their Pokémon. That was kind of my wish before my change of heart. Back then, I had dreams of separating them in order to achieve peace...and that was the reason why my team and I funded you all. I have my regrets."

The lady had realized something. "You are referring to the business owners who granted us one million Pokédollars?"

"They were actually Team Plasma in formal clothes. You see, when they were active, they only wanted to take away the Trainers' pets in order to protect them for the same goals you have. The thing was, we couldn't reveal ourselves due to our fears of hostility with your organization."

"Well, what is done is done. We all have changed, and you HAVE tried to do the right thing anyway."

N pointed out, "And so did you, only that you actually got what you wanted in the end. However, I think you won a little too much. At home, I've been seeing unhappy faces from those "Citizens", despite being more self-worthy than they used to be. And it couldn't be because the Pokémon aren't there to make their lives easier. It's most likely because they no longer bond with us. Not only that, it's also like if a part of their lives is missing."

The president scoffed, "But what's so important about the bonding between humans and Pokémon? All of the technology were used to cage those creatures or even harm them."

"The use of Pokéballs is only one small portion of the human-Pokémon relationship, Inga. You and I understand that they both have chosen to live together in order for the Trainers to prove themselves responsible for the pets, not the other way around. The majority of the Trainers knew what was best for them, even though they always made the hardest decisions, like letting them go in some cases. Heck, some pets even need us as much as we need them."

"I guess this seems not to be about controlling them in general, is it? But what about battling?"

N drawled with a surreal tone, "Imagine that you are a Pokémon ready to fight your opponent fair and square instead of cruel and nasty, and feeling stronger after that. You do not bleed while attacked nor will you die after the battle. You find this nature strange in contrast to myth but acceptable without too much ado."

"What story are you telling me, Natural?"

The green-haired man spoke normally, "It's not a story. I have a special ability to detect the feelings and emotions of the Pokémon as well as to understand their language crystal clear, due to the fact that I spent more time with them than many other individuals do. My point is, while we are not the biggest enthusiasts of battling…"

The lady finished N's sentence. "...Perhaps it's time that I get the League running again to bring back the bond between humans and pets again."

"Still, it's good to see the people being super productive, and I don't ever want them to stop. But also remind yourself and everyone else the reason why battling is the core of every living thing in the world. The creatures only fight because they want to, not because the Trainers force them to."

Sometime later, they heard some trotting outside, followed by a knock on a window. Strangely, the president felt a warm presence of an old friend, so she decided to check the window to find out what was making all the noise.

It was a full-grown Zoroark, the evolved form of Zorua.

Normally, one finds that black illusion-making canine aggressive, but the one that knocked the glass didn't look like it was hungry for flesh. In fact, it simply looked into President Inga's eyes and smiled.

The lady looked at it in response. "It couldn't be, but is it?" Then, she had a flashback of herself spending time with the Zoura after meeting it. She fed it Pecha Berries, brought it some inflatable dummies, and experienced one of its illusions of one of her vacations. After the flashback, the Zoroark picked its hair and brought her back one of the toys she gave her earlier, confirming the reunion.

Inga opened the window, held on to the and looked at the Pokémon, but this time, with ecstasy...and brief tears. "It's you, old friend. Welcome back."

She quickly left the headquarters to meet the fox outside and gave it a long.

N got out as well, but wondered. "What's a Dark-type from Unova doing here in Kanto?" He then asked the black creature, "Can you explain to us how you got here?"

The Zoroark created an illusion depicting its younger self (as a Zorua) heading to a passenger ship via the bridge; supposingly, it wanted to migrate like the Flying-types, but to prevent being caught, it got into its hiding spot of a Berry barrel and kept shifting to another, revealing how it transported itself. Then, it removed its red collar with a tag that said "Lafayette" .

"Wait," the president said to the illusion maker. "Was Devrim your owner before you separated?"

The fox nodded with grief.

Then, it and N began a non-vocal communication, consisting of expressions and gestures. After that, the green-haired man cited, "My senses indicate that as a child, he was so overworked with his inventions that he forgot about you by mistake, in which you never even got to battle like what you desired to do. I believe you managed to cope with your new lifestyle as a wild Pokémon?"

Next, the Zoroark created another illusion, this time with the location of a stadium. It already knew that dueling was outlawed, so this act was to get what it wanted without the officers or anyone else knowing. When the illusion was set, it looked at Inga for a moment.

"Zoroark, you want me to be your Trainer?"

It nodded.

She was too nervous to tell a creature to hurt another, but nonetheless, she took deep breaths and accepts the fox's offer of being its commander.

A Gallade, a Psychic/Fighting type, was seen on the other side of the field, showing off its bladed arms. As it looked fit to fight, the Zoroark got into its fighting stance.

"Wait, what am I supposed to do!?" The president's breaths became heavier and heavier as her anxiety built up.

N answered, "Tell Zoroark what to do, Inga. I know battling may look rough, but you can still give it a try."

"Well, I do remember some moves Trainers yell out, but what if I give the wrong command!? I have no experience on this at all!" She then got down on her knees and wheezed. After that, she started to look back on her past: Years ago, with the supervision of Professor Oak (in his late 20s), she used to be a Trainer for a very short period of time in order to prove her potential courage, but more importantly, her recovery from her past trauma with that Dusknoir at camp. Her first Pokémon was a bulb-backed Bulbasaur, who was dedicated to looking after her to prevent another incident like what she received.

_"Bulbasaur," _Oak told the Grass-type,_ "Here, we have your new Trainer, Inga. Can you keep a good eye on her? It seems that she may need a lot of help, for the anxiety she has towards her direction."_

_"Bulbasaur! (I promise by heart!)"_

_"Thank you," _responded the young girl.

However, ever since her father and especially her mother became extremely overprotective of her, Inga kept her planned journey a secret. While such time lasted, she got to compete with other trainers at her level, though with unease with hurting another Pokémon despite the professor assuring her that this was mainly about gaining trust and inner strength.

Sometime later, her parents spotted her at one of the gyms and found out that she was battling; they were nowhere near happy about the situation.

_"INGA!" _shrilled her heavy-breathing mother, angrily pointing at her. _"I cannot believe you are doing this, after what happened on our camping trap. You are in big trouble, young lady! VERY big trouble."_

_"What were our rules about interfering with Pokémon and using them for violence?" roared her father._

_"Mom, Dad, please, I'm really, very sorry for what I'm doing!" _Inga begged.

_"'Sorry?' Is that all you can you give us for disobeying us?" _barked her mother. _"This is very unacceptable."_

Professor Oak immediately showed up in front of Inga, facing her parents._"Eduardo, Sarah, please, this was not her fault! If there is anyone who is primarily responsible, it's me. I am the one who guided her to become a Trainer. Inga only wanted to overcome her fear of-"_

The mother shoved the man hard and marched towards her daughter. Next, she snatched her daughter's Pokéball._ "Inga, you do not need this! Your so-called pet is to be set free, never to be harmed again!"_ Then, she forcefully threw the orb on the ground, smashing it into pieces. _KSHH! _She was really furious!

Inga was scared. She knew that what she did was not okay for her parents, considering the special family goals, and at some later time, she, as well as her Bulbasaur, started to cry.

The father pointed at this teary-eyed daughter. _"You are grounded, young lady, and that is the end of this story."_

Then, Oak gave her his last words before her parents took her away: _"Don't stop finding the true meaning of a Pokémon Master."_

After the flashback, Inga was ready to make a confession to N and the Zoroark, who ended the illusion to listen. Her voice broke, "This is when I remember. I didn't make battles outlawed just because I believed that it was "cruel", it's also because I wanted to live up to my mother's promise of avoiding Pokémon when in truth, I actually wanted to be like the Trainers a long time ago, which is why I let Professor Oak guide me to become one. My first and only pet was a Bulbasaur, but I never got to see her again ever since my parents forbid me from having to battle again."

"First off," responded N calmly, "You are not your mother, who might not have dug deep about Trainers, and secondly, it is important to understand that there's more than just the core concept battling as a Trainer. You see, the relationship with an owned Pokémon happens to be very deep and complex. Look back and remember that in general, Trainers tend to be very kind to them. I understand that some of them were infamous for mistreating their pets, but the truth is, there have been more good than bad owners throughout history. The problem is that you haven't really considered the inside story of being a Trainer. You see all of what they do, but those actions are not what they've appeared to be. If you dig deep enough, the people bond with their pets because of they learn valuable lessons together. These all apply to battling, and if you looked around you in depth, they weren't as cruel as you thought they were; they loved their Pokémon very much, and I am sure you would've done the same if you could give a chance to what Trainers appreciate doing the most."

"Do the Pokémon believe any of this?"

"...Well, there was this time when I met Reshiram, a Legendary Dragon/Fire-type as a young boy, at my castle. It knew that I was ordered by Ghetsis, my leader, to awaken it, so it assumed that I was like them and destroyed my home. It was full of deep anger, so I was desperate to prove the legendary Pokémon that humans weren't necessarily bad. Sometime later, in the ruins, my leader gained control of it and ordered it to exterminate my friends who were helping me stop Team Plasma. That was when I persuaded it about the humans caring for Pokémon in depth, while we helped it set free. At first, it did not believe me, but after we redeemed ourselves, it left us peacefully."

The president was having a moment of silence. While repicturing all the warm deeds the Trainers have done with the pets, she was blinking, with her vision blurring and eyes becoming glossy. A few beads have dropped from her eyes to the ground, with others that she wiped clean. After that, she weeped prominently, regretting how she took away a form of the Trainers' happiness. The question for her was though, did N reveal her the true meaning of a Pokémon Master, the one she was to look for years ago?


	8. Part 8

**Chapter 12 – Secret Service**

Sometime later, on a well-known and popular social website entitled "Pokétalk", there were a select amount of Trainers who formed a web camera-based special support group to discuss their pros and woes of their new lives after the banning of battling. Members have consisted of Red and Leaf from Kanto, Ethan, Kris, and Lyra from Johto, May and Brendan from Hoenn, Lucas and Dawn from Sinnoh, Hilbert, Nate, Hilda, and Rosa from Unova, and last, but not least, Calem and Serena from Kalos. For the majority, their lives were revealed to have progressed for the worse overall, as expected particularly due to their pets not being there.

_"...While we managed to get our act together and recovered from the mishaps, overall, community service just isn't fun without our beloved Pokémon. We felt like our lifestyle feels restricted and incomplete, even since PET PIKA got such ownership outlawed,"_informed Red.

_"We know exactly how you feel, Red," _responded Ethan. _"It has been quite a bit lonely now that the world's all about us only. And you know, absolute independence may not be the best way to live life. Our pets can also be useful to help us with our new jobs, but that is not the point. The point is, they were our true companions who cared about us as much as we cared about them."_

_"That's right," _sighed Lucas. _"It turns out, our bonding with our Pokémon wasn't about using them as merely tools, property, or slaves. There are some individuals who see us like this, but in reality, it's about taking good care of them and treating them like family. We know that the creatures have as much awareness and intelligence as we have, perhaps even more, which is why we never force them to battle unless they want to."_

_"What about the concept of battling?" _asked Nate.

_"According to PET PIKA, they say that violence is not the way to live life, but the thing is, battle has been accepted by almost everyone for centuries, for various reasons except for punishment or power abuse. The pets fight because they want to, and when they do, they usually survive in the end. As I'm pointing out, it would be very- no, EXTREMELY rare for a fatality to happen. I mean, if this would have happened, there would have been news about this."_

_"Only a evil team would cause something like this," _responded Red._ "Take Team Rocket as an instance."_

_"Maybe it's possible that PET PIKA thought that we were like them, and that we would eventually grow up for the worse. However, we know that's not nor will be true for any of us, or even the Gym Leaders!"_

_"The lesson is," _concluded Red, _"do not judge anyone based on what they look like they're doing, but rather on their goals and actual purposes. And to think all of PET PIKA's years of hard work meant well."_

_"Hi there, Serena!" _yipped Hilda, who spotted her at the bottom-right screen. _"(Boy, do you look even cuter than we imagined you'd be!) We've been sending you invitations for days, and now you're finally part of our group! Welcome aboard!"_

_"Thanks, but I actually don't feel like speaking right now," _sniffled Serena, wiping her watery eyes._ "And the worst part was, I lost my voice after so much practicing…"_

_"Look, we're sorry that your concert wasn't what you hoped it would be, but everyone messes up once in awhile, and I'm sure your voice will recover. Just remember that too much practice can't be a good thing."_

_"Say, don't you have some close friends who could be there to comfort you?" _suggested May.

_"Her Pokémon such as Delphox and Pangoro left to PokéPark, unfortunately," _replied Calem, whose words caused Serena to cry even more. _"Oops."_

_"This is why I DON'T WANT TO BE A SINGER ANYMORE!" _she wailed.

_"I remember when she had it hard on her first Pokémon Showcase, as broadcasted on television," _May pointed out. _"Initially, she seemed to be nervous, which was later insulted to injury when her Fennekin got tripped by her long ribbon in which her decorations were destroyed. From a message I received from an old friend, she blamed herself deeply for her elimination, but as time went by, she managed to stand herself up and went on with her second and third Showcases, without thinking of giving up, and won both of them at the end."_

_"But her success was with her Pokémon. This year, life has been different. She hasn't gotten support from everyone, and her fans have complained that she wasn't as good as before, despite her persistence on her career."_

_"Haters are going to hate, what can you say?" _responded Hilda. _"But that doesn't mean that we should give up on what we love to do, with or without our pets, and that includes you, Serena."_

_"Really?" replied Dawn. "I like how you're telling us not to quit, and yet, you stopped performing stunts for a long time."_

_"Look, I need a long break, and that's different from quitting. Besides, it's good to be back on the safety zone, right?"_

_"Good point, but we're starting to ramble a bit now. Let's get back to topic, okay?" _Dawn then turned to Serena. _"It's alright, buddy. Just take it easy and continue on with your career. If anything, if you quit on something you love to do, then that would be a true failure, to you and your friends, including your Pokémon. And while you seem to be alone, I'm sure that it helps you become independent as a way to find who you really want to be in life."_

After the conversation, in order to put their careers aside, the Citizens have agreed to form their own secret battling program as the first step to bring back what was their core focus long ago.

For example, Red and Leaf searched for warp tiles (floor parts designed to teleport them to a different location) in order to go to Cerulean Cave. There, they brought some long-untouched robotic Pokémon they received as gifts from the Super Training program: Red's were a Raichu and a Charmander, whereas Leaf's were a Weepinbell and a Wigglytuff.

"Umm..._RoboRaichu!_" cried Red. "Use Thunderbolt!"

The mechanical mouse emitted massive sparks from its yellow-spotted cheeks.

"Uhh, _Weepinbot_?" assumed a puzzled Leaf. "Do you think you can you dodge it?"

The flycatcher quickly jumped away from the robot Raichu's lightning bolts. It turns out, the battle was mostly like all the previous ones, as they gave the robots commands...until they were severely damaged in the nick of time.

As for the four ex-Trainers from Unova, they played an old multiplayer computer game that was based on what they used to do in real life. It was an RPG, in which battles were turn-based, HPs were present, and that their pets in-game were to get stronger from battling, as measured by levels. Hours later...

"Geez, doesn't feel the same," said Nate, shaking his head with indifference. "The gameplay felt limited compared to commanding the real-life Pokémon to perform deeply-planned attacks. Plus, there seemed not to be a lot of activities aside from fighting and exploration."

"You got that right." sighed the others.

**Chapter 13 - The Showdown**

In one of the Pokémon centers in , the Aerodactyl somehow failed to recover from the effects of his Trainer's iBall, despite a prolonged operation by the Nurse Joys long ago before they were fired. During its free time at an isolation room, it started to act even stranger than it was before, foaming in the mouth, bulging its eyes considerably and shaking its body violently. Next, it turned red as a beet and...began to Mega Evolve. However, this was NOT ordinary; not only was it without the bonding of its former owner, but the results were about to be abnormally and overwhelmingly monstrous; the living fossil grew larger than a Lugia, gained hard scales all over its skin, its muscles became more pronounced, its teeth grew longer and sharper, and surprisingly, it seemed to be on fire. Now fully transformed, it quickly broke out of the room and then flew out of the hospital roaring. The monster began its rampage in by devouring trees and even vehicles, in which the residents ran for their lives.

At PokéPark, all of the Pokémon that were released by their former Trainers grew weary of relaxing, despite their earned freedom. Now that they had no real purpose whatsoever, most of the time, many simply laid down in every place in sight, whether it was the tree branches, the lakes and rivers, the grass, or even the hard rocky ground. In some cases, they did battle for short moments, but they were often held back by the absence of their loving owners as well as what happened to their culture outside this theme park/civilization area.

In a treehouse, a Pikachu meets some of his friends there, consisting of reunited Pokémon who traveled with him, during the previous years with the Trainers. Likewise, they did not celebrate their independence, but instead mourned over their new mediocre lifestyle.

"What's going on here?" asked the Pikachu. "I thought you said we were to have parties every day."

"Got tired of celebrating after like 300 times, man," replied Tierno's Squirtle, laying down and eating whipped honey butter from a can.

"Where did you get that can?"

"No idea, honestly. Dude, what I'm trying is, no one really knows what to do here. Okay, maybe the Snorlax and Slakings seem content about resting, and that we've been a bit productive..."

"...Such as the Arcanines, Houndours, and Mightyenas keeping guard of any troublemaker or trespasser," interrupted Dawn's penguin-like Piplup. "And then there's the Gurdurr building houses, the Fighting-types' contests, the Delibirds' delivery service, and the Azumarills' role as the lifeguards at all of the lakes."

A Togekiss added, "And there's also the Castform predicting the weather, the Chanseys and Audinoes nursing the injured or sick, and the Skiddo herd and Milktanks providing milk…"

"We get it," responded the Squirtle.

"Pardon me."

"However, I often wonder, would we be better off living with the humans while making full potential of our use? You know, bro, it was a great experience battling with different kinds of Pokémon. And being there for our owners as they were there for us, what happened to it?"

A Psychic-type, called Alakazam, walked through the door. "Gone, that's what happened. Everyone knows that we and the humans exist together for a reason, and yet PET PIKA had to cause life-changing trouble."

"How can we go back?" asked Pikachu.

"I suppose we can go back in various ways: I recommended the Lapras for the best safety, or the Drifblims to get home quicker. However, there aren't enough of them to take us all at once, and we have thousands in this island."

The electric mouse sighed, "Well, this could be a problem, and the airplanes won't take us back anytime soon." Suddenly, he had an idea. "Wait, what if we built a boat enough to take us all home?"

"We could even build two if we have to," suggested the Squirtle. "But what about the rule against interfering with humans?"

"Well, there wasn't a rule against being around in their place."

"Good point."

"In addition," added the Alakazam, "I received a message from a Delibird that the Aerodactyl from the incident didn't recover from being trapped in his Trainer's iBall prototype and therefore transformed into a giant monster resembling a larger, twisted version of its Mega Evolution. It has also been said that due to its size, it would have to eat everything in sight, including the humans."

The Pikachu became shocked. "You mean, our owners!"

"Yo, that ain't good!" exclaimed the Squirtle. "Looks like we really need to get back home to save those people!"

On the following noon, Pikachu called everyone for an announcement regarding the construction of the ship. "Attention, friends! We have an important mission."

"Finally, after a year of doing nothing!" cried a Bisharp, an armored Dark/Steel-type.

"Without our owners, a part of us is missing," added a Torkoal, a turtle-like Fire-type.

"Exactly. Back then, in our society, we lived with our Trainers for a reason, and that's being THERE for them as much as they were there for us. But now that we were sent away from them, there seems to be a lack of harmony or even a clear direction on what to do in our lives. I mean, sure, we have everything we need, but don't you consider it as the problem? There are hardly any risks nowadays, and life just isn't the same without our Trainers. There is no real battling, no risks, no rewards, nothing worth fighting for. Where's the fun in that? Okay, we have to agree that we do feel pain whenever we fight, so what? That's a natural part of life that motivates us to get stronger. Anyway, today, we have this special mission: to save Pallet Town. There, a mutated Mega Aerodactyl is attacking the residents and eating up houses and cars!"

"What happened!?" asked the Torkoal.

"Well, first off, he belonged to a Trainer named Eddie, who put him in a iBall prototype, which was a big mistake as it wasn't tested earlier. The side effects ended up severe, in which the Fossil Pokémon turned beserk and possibly made his owner "un-alive".

The Alakazam added, "Eventually, after a trial between PET PIKA and the company that made the iBall, he was sent to the hospital, but he failed to recover and instead transformed into a giant monster. For this, we must return to human territory and save everyone there."

Pikachu advised, "But in order to go back, we need to build a ship to take us there."

"How the heck can we possibly do that!?" screamed an obnoxious Loudred. "We need all of the wood to make fire, houses and such!"

"But would you rather spend the rest of your lives living without risk and reward or rescue hundreds of innocent people who used to be part of our happy lives as all of us intended?" continued the Pikachu.

"How long will it take us to build it? Two to three years?"

"Together, as a whole team, we will be able to finish it in no time. I mean, just look how many of you here! What do you say we do this, for the Trainers and our purpose?"

All the creatures have acknowledged their vast population and agreed to build the ship. The Rock-types were to carry all the wood due to their top-tier strength, the Psychic-types were in charge of the blueprints for its design due to their intelligence, and all the others were responsible for the construction of the boat. Indeed did they finish it in just three hours, despite some minor hiccups. However, it was not enough to hold all of them at once, but it did manage to hold most. The ride had lasted for hours.

Outside PET PIKA headquarters, President Inga, Dr. Baron, the Zoroark, and N ran off to find the Aerodactyl after hearing the news about its freakish evolution. Sometime later, they found him at a school, terrorizing students and destroying the playground.

The researcher took heavy breaths. "...T-t-there it is! T-t-that MONSTER!"

"Exactly how did _he_ get bigger...and redder?" asked N.

"The iBall was to blame!" assumed the researcher. "I would like to point out that the Vengeium inside the flying devil's body must have bonded with the Mega Stone energy. Therefore, it stored them, after the demon reverted from its Mega Evolution, in which this had later resulted in a worse transformation through a crazy synergistic effect. By the way, how do you know it's a 'he', you_Pokémon whisperer_?"

"One time, I've met Eddie, the owner. He let me interact with his Aerodactyl in which I got to know its gender and learn about his favorite diet, as well as its preferred areas where to fly. Since then, I haven't seen them together for a long time, especially considering the incident at the arena."

"How do we stop _him_ then!?"

The Zoroark stepped up, heading towards the mutated Aerodactyl. It gave a ferocious look, like if it was ready to tear him to shreds, and used Dark Pulse to attack.

"Did you teach it that?" Dr. Baron asked Inga.

"No, I didn't. It's just that _he _knew the move already."

"The black fox is a _HE? _Oh good, you're another _Dr. Dolittle_, just like that crazy freak show N is."

While the Dark-type and the monster started battling, N got particularly annoyed with the researcher's insult. "As a matter of fact, I am not crazy. While you expect Trainers to do the "right thing", you don't deeply consider the feelings and thoughts of the Pokémon and their intended motives! I understand that you may not be a trusting fellow, but have you actually spent time with the creatures at ALL?"

"So what? If something is not broken, don't fix it, which is why we got battling and involvement banned, like you wanted before."

"No, this is not what I want now! You know, that's like putting a brick wall between us and the Pokémon, like I mentioned to your president! And what if they need our help? At some point, we need to be aware of them because they serve a central role in this world. Take the Legendaries for instance. You know, Mew, the ancestor who gave birth to everyone, Celebi, the guardian of Ilex Forest, and Azelf, Mesprit, and Uxie, the three lake guardians who gave us our emotions and our consciousness? They didn't make us without reason, so there's no excuse to avoid them and think for ourselves all the time!"

Meanwhile, it appeared if the Zoroark was easily overpowered by the red "Giga" Aerodactyl, whose move, Wing Attack, sent him flying to a fountain from a distance. Next, the monster spotted N, Baron, and the president and began to soar towards them.

"Run!" shouted Dr. B.

However, the three were still vulnerable as they were eventually outpaced by the Fossil Pokémon. But before he could tear the them to shreds, the black fox trotted out of the crashed fountain, got in front of the humans and blocked the beast's next move, which was a deadly headbutt. If was not for him, then his companions would have been done for. After this, the two fought again.

This had reminded Inga of an importantly memory; back at camp, there was actually a Fighting-Steel-type Pokémon who saved her life from the Dusknoir responsible for giving her wounds and injuries. It used Aura Sphere to push it away, and to finish it off, it struck it with a bone-like pole through a move called Bone Rush, ending the ghoul's terror.

It was a Lucario.

The injured young girl said "thank you" to the jackal, but before she could get closer to it, her parents abruptly took her away, and that was when she was sent to the hospital.

After the flashback…

"Perhaps this is why they like to battle and be with us," said the lady calmly.

While the Zorark remained determined to end the Aerodactyl's wrath, he still could not stand a chance against him. Eventually did he become exhausted after getting clawed, bitten, and hit, like if all hope was lost.

Meanwhile, at an abandoned beach, there came the now-grimy boat full of Pokémon after a long tedious trip. Each were seasick as a Furfrou, except for the Water-types.

"Ohh," moaned Pikachu lying, "If I have to stay in that rocky ship for any longer, I am going to hurl!"

The Piplup groaned, "It could've been the tidal waves or even the hurricane, which pushed to boat high in the sky, resulting in that nauseating drop back to the ocean. Ugh."

"You're telling us. At least this was way quicker than swimming all the way from PokéPark to here, bro," bellyached the Squirtle. "Just imagine how many days I'd have to put through without the boat."

The electric mouse took a good view at the sand, full of towels, umbrellas and small castles. "Look on the bright side! At least we made it to Kanto, our home sweet home. Wait, is that Lafayette?"

The CEO stared at the creatures and their wooden ship. "What in the name of Ho-Oh is going on here?"

A Cubone (a Ground-type) scratched its skull helmet. "The question is, what is he doing at the beach? Shouldn't he be working at RevoEvolution?"

Devrim put on a strange headset on his ear. "Good thing I have that Pokélistener my group and I designed for quite some time."

In response, the Pikachu came close to Lafayette. "Can you hear us?

The CEO looked surprised. "Yes, I can! I may not be able to talk to you naturally, but this device sure makes it easier for us to communicate!"

"Funny, because most of the Trainers take the time to learn how to talk to us, Lafayette."

"Honestly, often do I create shortcuts. Say, how and why did you all get here, with that boat of yours?"

"We've heard about that giant Aerodactyl attacking a town, so we've come here to save the day, right?"

"This is the exactly the reason why I've run away. This is to keep myself from people slamming me even more after what I've done with the iBall, in which I apologize for what I've done to many of you. Also, that crazy Baron hates me."

"Hey, we all make mistakes every now and then," replied the Piplup. "But while we hear that everyone, especially Baron, is upset with you for starting it all, running away from your problems won't make things any better. Perhaps they could get worse even by the time you're gone. So the best and only way is to help yourself is to address the trouble head on because somewhere within, you have the strength to make things better. You just need to keep looking."

"How? And don't get me started with those notoriously flawed products I've given throughout the years!"

"What about the good ones like your comfy electric blanket or the food-preserving jars? They've shown quite of the potential you have, and what about that thing on your ear that allows you to talk to us?"

Lafayette suddenly became quiet on this subject.

Then, the Pikachu began to notice someone on a small and old boat on the sand. "The one on the left looks to be...Eddie, albit battered."

"I noticed that too!" replied the Squirtle. "I thought he was dead, slaughtered by his own winged, toothy _bro_. Let's go check him out."

All the Pokémon came closer to the boy, to see whether he was lifeless or not.

A Wigglytuff put one of her ears near his mouth. "...He's still breathing." Next, she placed her handless arm on his chest. "And his heart's still beating, too. If you look at it, he must be still alive!"

Eddie started to wake up, seeing all the creatures around him. At first, this had scared him, fearing that they would attack him like what his Aerodactyl did to him, but then, he started to wonder why they have returned, considering how they were supposed to be happy with their vacation. "Shouldn't you all be at PokéPark?"

"Life wasn't the same without our owners", replied the yellow Electric-type.

Likewise, Lafayette was glad to see him living. "You're the same guy who gave me the iBall blueprints in exchange for money. For over a year, we thought you were killed. How did you manage to survive, and why couldn't you tell anyone?"

"Well, here is the truth: In that stadium, I was indeed beaten real good by my Fossil Pokémon in its Mega form, but then I found a rather large truck near me, loaded with heavy boxes of Tamato Berry cans as a bonus. Luckily, I managed to fit under to protect myself, that was until my former friend knocked it over, leaving me vulnerable again. Yet, he became busy tearing down the truck and those food that were inside; when the juice were leaking, it had looked like if he mauled me, but I was given an opportunity to run away and hide in the dark of the stadium for a long while; during that time, I remained severely distressed from losing my only pal. And when I realized that he transformed, I've decided to stay here to be safe, for the time being."

"Same here. We wouldn't want any of us to live with a crowd who sees us as only 'criminals'."

"Maybe you could at least invent something that would turn your Aerodactyl back to normal?" suggested the Pikachu. "Just asking for your redemption, that's all..."

All the Pokémon left the beach, with Lafayette and Eddie remaining still. They started to follow the roars from the distance and marched non-stop, until they arrived to the ruined school where the Zoroark kept struggling to protect the green-haired man and the two PET PIKA members. It was their time to help and face the big red flying monster, with the fate of the people lying in their paws, claws, and hands.

"DID SOMEONE SAY BATTLE!?" the Pikachu cried to the best. "Okay, technically, you didn't say it, but it DOES look like to want to duel."

The "Giga" Aerodactyl roared ferociously at the mass horde, spraying slimy spit as a result.

The Squirtle wiped his shell. "Nasty."

"What the heck is going on here?" asked a surprised Dr. Baron, cleaning his eyeglasses. "Am I hallucinating, or were they migrating? It's not even winter yet."

"No, I think they've returned possibly to save us," suggested Inga. "It really turns out, they don't fight because the Trainers want them to, they fight for their passion, and the good of all beings, including the people.

All the pets attacked at once. There were no clear categories of different types fighting, but all of them used the strongest moves they have ever learned.

"Thunderbolt!" cried Pikachu, emitting massive sparks of electricity.

"Hydropump!" exclaimed Squirtle and Piplup, each blasting a huge jet of water.

However, even their combined powers were hardly a match against the big brute, who simply blocked all the moves without ending up getting a single scratch. Then, he used Giga Impact, a move in which a yellow-orange energy covered its body, with a purple energy sphere surrounding him until it swirled around him to hit everyone.

"Are all of you alright?" asked the Zoroark with concern.

"Yeppers," moaned the yellow rat, covered in soot.

Meanwhile, at the beach, Eddie and Lafayette were having a serious conversation:

"What if the Pokémon were right?" asked Lafayette. "There's not much trouble we could cause now. Perhaps we should be making it up to everyone."

"And get back my old friend after over a year," replied Eddie.

" So what if we could try reverting it back to normal? Maybe with an invention completely extracting the freak radiation in your Aerodactyl's body?"

"Perhaps by nature? Take clay as an example, specifically pyrophyllite. It's known for removing all forms of radiation from the body through electromagnetic polarity. And then there's sea salt, algae, and Combee pollen, which likewise magnetically bond with such all kinds of toxins."

"Reminds me how often do I take clay baths at a spa…" The CEO had a brilliant idea, so he knew he had back home and quickly. "Wait a minute, I think I still have similar earthen supplies you mentioned, at my place, specifically the clay and the salt. I have to go, but I will be right back, in the nick of time!"

"I'll find the algae and pollen. One more thing: Since Aerodactyl is huge, we're going to need lots of those supplies."

"I will keep that in mind."

At home, the CEO searched for the bulk ingredients, but this wasn't without difficulties. For the mud, it was meant to be in the cabinet of the bathroom, and for the sea salt, it was supposed to be in the pantry, but he had remembered that it was his girlfriend who put them away after borrowing them to a spa party. And since she didn't know where to put them, he had no choice but to check every nook and cranny; it was after half an hour when he found the sea salt container and the giant jar of mud, both in the basement.

For Eddie, he went to a forest to look for algae; with some big empty bottles left from the beach, he decided to collect some from the pond, until some Quagsire and Poliwrath got really angry and chased the boy away.

"Sorry, guys, but that was for a good cause!"

Luckily, he managed to get enough to make the mixture. Then, to find the pollen, he went to search for the Combee hives in the meadows. Since he knew that it was a dangerous task, he wore a suit to protect himself from the swarm of Tiny Bee Pokémon. However, when he got to the hives, they showed up and stubbornly blocked his way. Eddie tried to explain what he needed to do, but it was no use. He found it hard to get their pollen when the comb-like insects refused to help out, with the threat of being attacked. Fortunately, he knew that there was another way to get the pollen; the sprout-like Budew were known to store similar pollen inside their buds, with the addition of being much friendlier.

"Do you think you can give me your pollen, please?" he asked. "This is to make a cure for a troubled friend."

This was deemed an easy success as they all opened their buds, releasing the ingredients for the boy to collect in a sack. Eventually, Eddie and Lafayette met together again in a laboratory in the RevoEvolution headquarters where with the help of a trusted scientist, they carefully put all the ingredients inside multiple beakers, to determine the right amounts for each. Next, they tested their formulas on blocks of Vengium until there was one that absorbed the most radioactive energy.

"Let's go for it, for everyone including the creatures, shall we?" asked the CEO.

"I wish you two good luck," replied the scientist with confidence.

Meanwhile, the Zoroark and the rest of the Pokémon have become close to being defeated after a series of immense hits and blows by the red demon. They were very tired, and what could they possibly do now?

"Perhaps we could fuse all of our attacks into one big ball of energy?" suggested the Zoroark, sweating. "I've heard that combining every element can result in an reaction so powerful that it would deplete even the most powerful Pokémon's stamina to zero, in only a small amount of minutes or even seconds. It's only a theory, but it's our last hope. Let's do this for our Trainers."

The "Giga" Aerodactyl roared in its mightiest and was about to deliver his last attack, specifically a forbidden one, but before this would have happened, the horde was quick to get up and emitted their remaining energy to the air. As a surprise, it worked as there was indeed a large glowing sphere above them all. It quickly went after the beast and exploded as massive as a rocket; eventually did it send him soaring to the sky, comically shrinking it into a star.

"Looks like _Team Rocket's blasting off again_," remarked Dr. Baron quietly, looking up.

By the time the Aerodactyl crashed back down unconscious, Eddie, Lafayette and his entire crew quickly showed up and soaked him with their mud, reverting him back to its smaller, normal self in a matter of minutes. Incidentally, this success had made Dr. Baron drop his jaw, after previously despising all of his inventions especially the iBall. Could it be the time for him to trust the CEO for once?

"...Will he be alright?" asked a worried Eddie.

N responded, "I hope so, but only time will tell,_ old friend_."

The Rock-Flying type eventually woke up and looked at its Trainer. "Roar? (Eddie?)"

The Trainer immediately hugged him. "Still remember me, Aerodactyl? I'm so sorry for what I have done to you. You are just perfect the way you are."


	9. Part 9

**Chapter 14 – Lifting the Ban**

After the Aerodactyl was defeated by the combined forces of all the Trainers' Pokémon and reverted to its original form (With the help of RevoEvolution), battling was about to make a triumphant return, and soon, the humans and pets would be able to bond once more.

When all of the Trainers showed up at the school, they saw all the creatures and welcomed them once again, after over a year, since they last saw each other. Realizing how the pets saved them, they began to turn against PET PIKA for causing the witless ban.

To support this, a news report focused on the battle between the creatures and the 'Giga' Rock-Flying type.

_"Recently, at a school, there has been a group of Pokémon that managed to defeat a mutated Aerodactyl, saving the day. In addition, Lafayette and his crew, all known for their infamous iBall, appeared to redeem themselves by curing it with some kind of mud; perhaps it's time that we give them another chance, despite the damage they caused earlier. Shockingly, they was seen with a living Eddie, long thought to be dead. Could it be that he actually wasn't mauled by his that monster he used to own? Whatever reason, we are happy that he's still alive, hopefully learning a valuable lesson about tinkering with nature._

_And then there's the question regarding the ban on Pokémon battles and interference: were humans and the pets meant to be together in the first place? Here's why: Throughout an observation, everyone seemed to be very unhappy without them for a simple reason: they and their pets might have the same soul, basically just born for fighting."_

A day after the great big battle at school, the Trainers of all regions started to protest the battling ban. Without the need of violence, thousands signed petitions, whether on paper or digital, and held signs supporting the reunion of humans and Pokémon. It was time to bring life back to normal!

In the Kanto region…

"For the whole time, the Pokémon weren't really our servants," stated Red. "Nor they were tools for battle; they're our partners. My Pokémon and I were battling TOGETHER. I can't believe those PET PIKA guys didn't even notice such a simple thing as that!"

In Johto…

"Everyone has too much to say about Pokémon!" cried Lyra. "If it's fun and ethical, that's enough!"

In Hoenn…

"All Pokémon adore a kind trainer," claimed May. "Perhaps a tough but caring one even."

In Sinnoh...

"You know, it is true what they say," said Lucas. "With the exception of criminals, there is no evil among Pokémon fans."

"Pokémon are by our side, always," added Dawn. "I hope you will understand the meaning of those words, PET PIKA."

In Unova…

"No matter how many risks you take," sobbed Hilda, "it's like 100% impossible to live without Pokémon!"

Nate patted her. "It's OK."

In Kalos, there was one girl who delivered quite a speech, and her name was Serena…

"For over a year, I felt like I found no clear direction for me ever since a part of our lives was taken away from us. I know you meant well, PET PIKA, but you don't really get the whole picture of the concept of the world of Pokémon. Before the ban, those creatures were the main inspiration of my songs, and without them, I hardly have anything to write about. As you can see, they served an important role to life, and putting a wall between them and us doesn't seem to make sense. We know that independence is helpful sometimes, but that doesn't mean to go overboard and punish everyone like this. We would never dream of hurting the Pokémon in any way, so there needs to be a connection between humans and the pets as that is nature."

"After all, we all live in a Pokémon world for a reason!" added Adeline, holding a sign saying the same remark.

Eventually, a TV special was made upon the protests as it was about time to revert life back to normal. There, PET PIKA was seen announcing their confession at their headquarters, with everyone surrounding it. They have vowed to change their views and support the bond between the Trainers and Pokémon, and that was not all that have happened."

Specifically, an optimistic Dr. Baron made confessed to Lafayette, "There is one thing I have to admit, Devrim. After the pets' battle with the Aerodactyl, your mud experiment turned out to be quite amazing, and I believe that this is a step in the right direction. I've learned that clay can detoxify the body by stimulating the lymphatic system and cleaning the skin. Worked on us, so how about all the Pokémon as well? Another thing, how did you get such idea?"

"With the help of a surviving boy who knew so much, perhaps like me," the CEO replied.

"Well, maybe this will be an opportunity to prove your potential of improving quality of life the correct way. And who knows? Maybe I would look up to your genius one day. Nonetheless, there will be risks before reward, so may your responsibility be with you all the time."

In all, this was a surreal discussion to say at the very least, but it was a sign that Dr. Baron's perspective towards Devrim was changing for the better.

So was the name of RevoEvolution as the crew made a new transition from electronic gadgets to health products, beginning with their non-toxic, yet beauty-enhancing invention, "Pokklay" (a portmanteau of "Pokémon" and "clay"), which was loosely based on their mud experiment made earlier. It was available in "Cool" (blue with the scent of mint), "Beautiful" (gold and rose-scented), "Cute" (pink and cupcake-scented), "Clever" (green and tea-scented), and "Toughness" (orange and chili-smelling). Sometime later, the miracle mud received overwhelmingly positive responses from critics and Pokémon Coordinators; even PET PIKA approved it and certified it as "cruelty-free", which was unexpected, as they used to disapprove all beauty treatment in the past.

As for the Trainers of all regions, the ban of battling finally became lifted, and their creatures, plus the rest who all returned from PokéPark, were more than enthusiastic to fight. Even the president was eager to join, though with guidelines since she had not battled for a while. In fact, she was about to have a battle with Red at a training park, but before that, there was a reunion between Lafayette and a long-lost friend.

"Remember me in the old days, Zoroark?" The CEO wiped a tear. "I must have been too busy working on my inventions that I sort of forgot about you! For that reason, I have my regrets. It must have been hard for you to cope with our situation, but least we are here now, together once more. Now, I don't at all mean to be reluctant, but I still don't feel worthy enough to be your owner again. In fact, I stopped battling a long time ago ever since I have my career."

The black fox nodded.

"Perhaps I could look after your Zoroark?" suggested Inga, raising her hand. "He seemed to take a shine on me, and even though I don't battle either, I have played with him often back when he was a Zorua. And I quite a bit of spare time to learn all of his moves and get him nice and fit through something he deserves."

"Well, what do you think he deserves, considering how he looks pumped up, ready to put good use of his powers?" Then, Lafayette tossed a revived trademark red and white orb to the president. "I will be trusting you for that you'll be a good owner to him, so here's the new post-ban Pokéball, now upgraded to give the Pokémon more sufficient room to breathe and stretch. It's optional to him inside, but you do know that it would be best if my Zoroark decides."

The lady asked the fox, "What do think, _bud_? Do you want to get in this strange device? I feel uncertain about this, but neither will I force you to get inside nor refuse to let you in. It's your choice."

He looked at the orb and thought about it for a moment, but after thinking how convenient it would be for her to carry him like this, in the end did he tap it, which opened up, turned him into energy, and captured him.

"Congratulations, Inga," The CEO spoke calmly. "You have yourself a new friend who will always be there as long for you, as you live. Again, please take good care of him."

Afterwards, when the president shortly arrived to the park, holding the Pokéball Red shouted to the president enthusiastically, "Now that you officially have a Pokémon, Inga, what do you say we start a little warm-up?"

The lady threw the ball, releasing the black fox, and responded with zest, "Ready when you are."

"That's a cool-looking Zoroark you got there! Just to let you know, I will first show you the basics of dueling, and later the next levels. It'll be more simple than you think, but still challenging to master, yet most importantly, some life values will be involved throughout your training and journey to becoming your own definition of a Pokémon Master. We all find our destiny, so why not you?" Then, he threw his Pokéball and cried, "Charizard, I choose you!"

The orange, dragon-esque, fire-tailed Fire-Flying type materialized from the orb and roared. "It is good to be back, to use my glorious moves to win! And it looks like I have a newbie."

Inga's Zoroark snarled, "A pleasure to meet you, Charizard. Now just because my owner needs some training doesn't mean I'll be going too easy on you."

"Then show me your moves!"

While the trainers have revisited their traditions of battling, this was not all that happened. Acknowledging that it was still good being independent and productive sometimes, they kept their established careers, but in special cases, they had their pets to help them once in awhile.

For instance, in community service, Red and Leaf brought all of their creatures along to help another gardening event. Particularly, the girl's Venusaur provided its sunlight-based energy from the flower on its back to the other flowers, which each absorbed a portion and grew more rapidly than a Pikachu surfing in the ocean. Overall, it was definitely an improvement over last time, with the field of nature stronger and healthier than ever.

In other regions, others have brought their creatures as well. First, there was Ethan having his Jolteon using its electrical powers to fuel the batteries for the hoverboards, which lasted longer thanks to the stronger juice. Next, May, wearing an exoskeleton, teamed up with her Blaziken in a renovated soccer game designed for both humans and Pokémon. Then, there was Dawn hiring her rabbit-like Lopunny as a mascot for her skin treatment company, which then collaborated with RevoEvolution for the "Pokklay" product. Even Hilda went back to stunt performing, but this time, with the help of her pets. For her latest trick, she rode on her Druddigon in the sky and then dived down until the dragon catches her below.

As for Serena, she finally played her guitar again at a bistro, but even with her pets back, she continued grieving over the concert. Unexpectedly, another well-known female singer came to see her; during her hiatus, she used to be a PET PIKA member until the year without Pokémon when she sent a resignation letter to the president and returned to performing.

"Hello there, Serena," greeted the singer. "Name's Brittany."

Her eyes widened, and she smiled. "You mean, both the host of your talk show and the singer with those two adorable Igglybuff? A pleasure to meet you! My cousin Adeline had told me a lot about you, and we've listened to each of your songs and enjoyed them all!"

The two shook hands.

"Thank you. It's nice to see you as well, and I've listened to all of your songs, too!" Then, Brittany started to frown. "By the way, the reason why I left Johto to come here is because I wanted to visit you, for which I've heard that your concert didn't end very well due to your sore throat. At least your voice is back now!"

Serena frowned a little. "Well, yes. I think it's time for me to get my together and win back the respect from my fans."

"And I am sure your loyal Delphox and those Pokémon of yours will be cheering you on again now that you've all reunited together. Now, about those fans, I wouldn't try to pay too much attention about them."

"What do you mean? I trained really hard in order to be a brand new somebody. With that commitment, everyone was counting on me to perform well!"

"You didn't become a guitarist in order to be popular, but rather because of your passion. In other words, you play because you want to, not because of what everyone wants."

Then, Brittany's Igglybuff twins, Gigglybiff and Gigglybuff, showed up from behind.

While looking at the two, Serena giggled, "So you say these are "Loony Balloons" according to the name of your team. I knew how cute they are!"

"At one point, my Igglybuff told me that they have been bullied by a Jigglypuff who wanted them to quit just because she was jealous of their singing. Nevertheless, have they given up? Not a chance. They kept going with me because of their will to sing."

In the end, Serena threw another concert, thanks to the support from Brittany and the Loony Balloons. This time, however, she brought her Delphox and Talonflame to dance with her, just to spice the latest songs up a bit. Her first song was a cover version of "My Best Friends" from the album Pikachu's Jukebox. 

_Until the end I will be with you,_

_We will go where our dreams come true,_

_All the times that we have been through,_

_You will always be my best friends…_

_Here we are on a new adventure,_

_Danger lurks somewhere in the darkness,_

_We are set for surprises - even battle!_

_We're a team - no one better mess with us!_

_If we stand as one,_

_There's nothing to fear,_

_We'll beat the darkness,_

_And we'll stay right here!_

_Time after time,_

_That's how it will be,_

_Just you and me._

_'Til the end I will be with you,_

_We will go where our dreams come true,_

_All the times that we have been through,_

_You will always be my best friends..._

_Good friends - are those who stick together,_

_When there's sun and in the heavy weather..._

_Smile after smile,_

_That's how it will be,_

_Just you and me..._

_'Til the end I will be with you,_

_We will go where our dreams come true,_

_All the times that we have been through,_

_You will always be my best friends..._

_Remember, when we first met?_

_We had such fun, oh I never will forget..._

_Since then, the times are so good -_

_We've always stuck together like best friends should..._

_'Til the end I will be with you,_

_We will go where our dreams come true,_

_All the times that we have been through,_

_You will always be my best friends..._

All of the fans gave a massive round of applause, even followed by some sincere apologies for unfairly booing her back then:

"You go, girl! And we're sorry about your sore throat last concert."

As for her friends and her little cousin…

"Great comeback, Serena!" screamed Shauna and Calem.

Trevor, now working as a professional photographer, took pictures of the singer. "Couldn't have sang it better myself."

Adeline rubbed her hands. "Good thing I made my cousin a special statue while she was gone. Took me a while, but she's going to love it when we get back home."

Tierno looked excited and asked, "What statue, Adeline?"

"Not telling. It's a surprise."

"Maybe a hint or two?"

The little girl simply laughed at him.

As for Inga, she softly wiped a tear. "I'm so very proud of her. Even with her Pokémon, she remains a great singer herself, and if I look at it, she needs not to be independent all the time. In fact, she and her pets make a fine team."

"Let me guess," suggested Dr. Baron, "You advised one of our ex-members, Brittany, to go see Serena and get her back up again?"

"I have. Just to let you know, she and her Igglybuff were some of the greatest singers in the Johto region. They worked together all the time due to their exact same intentions." Inga looked around the audience until suddenly did she spot a certain red cap-wearing male Trainer with a Pikachu (the same one from the previous chapter) on his shoulder. "Wait a minute, is that who I think he is? The world-famous..."

Baron looked at the boy, too. "Wait, what!?"

After the concert, from what the president and researcher could see, the Trainer came to visit Serena, who in response shed tears of joy and eventually kissed him mouth to mouth. Could it be some form of a special reunion?

Then, feeling uneasy, Dr. B tugged the lady's shirt. "Inga, can we go somewhere a little secret? I know one thing will shock you, so bear with me."

"Well, sure, I assume."

The two quietly searched for an empty space until they found an abandoned janitorial room. This was where Dr. Baron whispered into President Inga's ear, in a calm but surreal manner, the answer to a critical mystery:

_"...I am Ash's long-lost father."_

**The End  
****\- -.- / ..-. ..- .-.. .-.. / -. .- - . / .. ... / -.. - -.-. - - .-. / ... .- -. -.. -.- / -... .- .-. - -. -...- -.- . - -.-. ... ..- - -..- / .- -. -.. / .- ... ... / .. ... / - -.- / ... - -. .-.-.-**


End file.
